I Belong With You, You Belong With Me
by MorganHarding
Summary: The unexpected happens when Lucy and Ian return to film the fourth season of PLL. Ian has accepted the fact that him and Lucy are just friends and has moved on, but is Lucy now having second thoughts? Does she actually have feelings for Ian after all this time? (Lucian story)
1. Chapter One

**I Belong With You, You Belong With Me**

March. The month had finally come when the Pretty Little Liars crew would be getting back together to begin filming Season 4. Even though Ian was busy in between filming with his Lupus work, "Christmas Without You" and most recently a trip to France, he missed the PLL crew. He got to see Troian and Shay when he played a small role in "Immediately Afterlife", and he hung out with Shay a few times to promote season 3B of PLL. But he missed everyone else: Keegan, Ashley, and especially Lucy. Not in a weird way though, because Lucy was just his friend. It's just that she's been so busy with her Bongo deal and her new album that he hasn't gotten to talk to her. It was almost making him nervous to see her again, getting right back into being an on screen couple.

Ian shook that thought out of his head and continued to lift. Sweat poured off his face as he blasted rap songs through his earbuds. Since November, Ian had been at the gym every day. It started out as something to do to kill time, but the more he went, the better he felt. Not to mention the better he looked; he developed a full out six pack that could give Keegan a run for his money. He figured his new body could help open doors for future roles. Ever since rumors spread that he was in the running to play Christian Grey, all Ian could think about was what was next after PLL. It had been announced that the show would end with 5 seasons, which made him nervous. Everyone seemed to be ready for something new; Troian and Shay were part of Immediately Afterlife, Lucy had her singing, and Ashley was busy promoting Spring Breakers. What was next for Ian? That thought bothered him too, so he threw it out of his head and moved onto the StomachMaster6000 and crunched.

Ian walked into his two room apartment after the gym to find a message blinking on his home phone. Curious, he walked over and pressed play.

"Hey Ian, its Sophie. Just seeing if we're still on for tonight. Call me back!" _Beep._

"Oh crap!" Ian exclaimed as he smacked his forehead. He had forgotten all about his date with Sophie.

Sophie was a girl Ian had been seeing lately. She was nice, but he wasn't sure where this "relationship" was heading. Most of the time he just felt like doing his own thing.

He dug into his pocket to grab his phone and dialed her number. Sophie picked up instantly.

"Hey Ian! What's up?"

"Hey Sophie. Um…" Ian hesitated. How was he going to phrase this? "About tonight, I'm sorry but I just feel really tired, and I feel like I should just shower and go to bed since we start up the show again tomorrow morning. Another time?"

Sophie got quiet on the other line. "Yeah, sure. Have fun tomorrow. Text me whenever you get a chance."

Ian smiled. It made him feel good that such a sweet girl cared about him. He just wished he could feel the same. "I will. Night Sophie."

"Annie have you seen my pink tank top?" Lucy shouted from her bedroom. Her and her best friend, Annie had just gotten back from their second trip to Nashville where Lucy was recording her first album. Lucy was upstairs in her room trying to unpack because she knew starting tomorrow, she'd be too tired. The first day of season four filming started tomorrow, which meant 3 weeks of 14 hour days.

"I saw you throw it in your suitcase last night," Annie shouted back from downstairs.

Lucy sighed and plopped down on her bed. She was getting really tired of packing. And hungry. She leaned back in her bed to grab the plate of the half eaten English muffin on her night stand and took a bite. The peanut butter on top had lost its creaminess since it had been sitting there since breakfast. It was now three in the afternoon. Somewhat annoyed, Lucy brought the plate downstairs to throw away. Annie was sitting at the kitchen table drinking tea as Lucy walked in.

"So are you excited for tomorrow Luc?"

"Yeah I guess so. I haven't seen anyone except for Ashley this whole time so it'll be nice to see everyone again. I'm just excited about my music right now and want to keep working on it." Lucy sat down next to Annie at the table.

"Don't worry, you'll get back into it once you're there. I'm interested to see what direction they go with the script." Annie continued to sip her tea.

Lucy fixed herself some tea and sat back down with Annie. She stared down into her cup, thinking.

"Yeah that's true. I wonder what everyone has been up to. Like Ian. I wonder what he's been doing." Lucy took a drink of her tea and then set it down.

"You know, I should probably text him more. He's a really nice guy, and it's been so long since I've talked to him. It's almost like it'd be, I don't know, awkward at first."

"It won't be awkward Luc!" Annie protested and then said with a smirk, "You guys know each other pretty well if you know what I mean."

Lucy gave her a look. "No, not that it'd be awkward to talk to him, just the fact that I haven't talked to him in a while, I feel bad."

Annie reached over and grabbed Lucy's arm. "Well, just make up for it tomorrow."

Lucy looked up at Annie. "Yeah," she said as she raised her cup to her lips, "I guess I will."

**Okay guys this is my first Fanfic ever! Please stick with me, I have such great ideas. First, I want to say that I want to create these characters as real as possible. I hate reading Fanfics that make real people or tv characters nothing like their true personalities! If you stick with me, I'm going to make this story really cute, but this background stuff was necessary for my ideas. **

**If I get some feedback, I will continue to write, just give me some time because I am very busy. I might have to post just once a week. **

**Don't forget to follow me on Twitter! MorganHardingx **

**P.S. I am still working on the formatting, so let me know if it'd be easier to read if it was spaced differently. Thanks! **


	2. Chapter Two

"Ok Ian I want you over there and uh, Lucy! You come here and sit on the couch."

Yup, Marlene was back. It was the first day of shooting after a long four days of table reading. Lucy was happy to be back with everyone, and she loved how season 4 was playing out. It was like they never stopped filming; everyone was joking around and having a good time. She told Ian all about her time in Nashville recording while he told her about his latest trip to France. And about the girl he's been seeing. They'd been getting along so when that when he told Lucy about Sophie, she got this weird feeling in the pit of her stomach that she has never gotten before. But he seemed happy, although he said it wasn't a serious relationship.

Lucy and Ian were filming a scene in where else but Ezra's apartment. There was a lot of commotion going on; Marlene and one of the other producers couldn't agree on how to let the scene play out. Lucy, running out of patience, let out a sigh as she leaned back into Ezra's famous couch and pulled out her phone.

Finally, Marlene spoke her mind over the constant chatter between the crew. "Enough!" she shouted, flinging her hands across her body. "It's final, we are doing this scene the way we said we would earlier. Lucy, you'll be on the couch. Ian, you'll be coming back from work, so change your shirt."

Both Ian and Lucy looked at each other wide-eyed, surprised at Marlene's tone. Ian quickly pulled his shirt over his head as he waited for Marlene to tell him what she wanted him to wear.

Woah.

Lucy couldn't believe it. Ian was ripped. She could tell his arms were bigger when she first saw him, and Keegan kept messing with him saying that they could work out together now, but Lucy never dreamed that his abs would look the way they do. Lucy always thought Ian was good looking, but this just took it to another level.

Lucy Hale thought Ian Harding was hot.

Lucy felt her jaw drop a little. She finally looked up at Ian who was staring right at her. Embarrassed, Lucy felt her face turn red as she quickly looked back at her phone.

It wasn't until 3:00 in the afternoon when everyone got a break. At this point, the cast was almost sick of each other and just needed some time alone. Each cast member has their own small room that was made out of those fake, removable walls. Still, it was a place everyone liked to go to and regroup.

Ian had just finished making himself a cup of coffee in the common room and was heading to his room when he heard someone yelling. He realized it was coming out of Lucy's room from down the hall. The yelling soon turned to crying, and the conversation she was having came to an abrupt end.

Assuming she had just hung up her phone on someone, Ian was concerned. She sounded really upset; her cries were turning into sobs. He walked back to the common room, set down his coffee on the food counter, and went back to her door. He took a deep breath in and knocked.

"Hey Luc, it's Ian. Do you want to talk?"

There was silence from inside the room, but only for a minute. Ian heard a quiet "sure" followed by a sniffle, so he proceeded inside.

Lucy was sitting on a stool, her back facing Ian, at a counter in her room. Ian could see her reflection in the mirror that was hanging over the counter. She was slouched over with her chin in her hands; her elbows on the counter with her phone face up in between them.

Ian slowly shut the door behind him and walked over to Lucy. She watched as he came over and sat on the stool next to her. She looked him up and down and noted to herself how handsome he looked in his outfit. It was simple, just a grey baseball tee with black sleeves and light blue jeans, but something about it appealed to her. He was letting his beard grow out on his face a little, and she found the stubble attractive.

"Hey," Ian said quietly as he sat down. He rested his head in his right hand, leaning on the counter facing Lucy.

"Hey," Lucy said even quieter, only looking at him briefly then wiping her eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Lucy now turned her body to face Ian, and in response Ian sat up straight and faced her. The stools were close, which forced their legs to fit together like some sort of puzzle. However, it was comfortable.

Lucy tried to gather herself in order to speak. "You know how Chris and I broke up, but it was kind of a while ago?" Ian nodded. "Well, it wasn't a good break up. Chris was really upset about it and said some nasty things to me. He even went off on Twitter, which is just embarrassing. Anyways, he bothered me for a while after we broke up, but finally he just gave up as time went by. I haven't heard from him since November, so I figured he moved on."

She paused for a minute and wiped her eyes again. "Ashley ran into him at the airport a couple days ago, and I don't blame her for saying hi because it would just be awkward if she didn't, but it's made him think of me again. He's been texting me and calling me, so I finally picked up the phone to try to tell him to stop, and he went off on me." Lucy began crying again as she continued. "He keeps saying he's going to get me back for it, and I don't know what he means. I don't think he would ever hurt me physically, but I don't know what he has in mind."

Ian was livid. All he wanted to do was find Chris and beat the living hell out of him. He tried to stay calm for Lucy, so he took a deep breath. Lucy wiped her face with tissues and started fidgeting with her hands.

"I don't know, maybe I'm over reacting, maybe this is normal, may-"

"Hey," Ian said as he grabbed Lucy's hands. This gesture startled her, but kept her calm at the same time.

"This is definitely not normal. When I first met Chris, I wanted to like him because he made you happy, but I didn't trust him for a minute. I want you to tell me the next time he calls you, because it kills me to see you this upset." Lucy let out the slightest smile after hearing that.

"But really Luc, next time he calls you," Ian looked straight into Lucy's eyes with a serious face, "tell him to talk to me."

Lucy was shocked at the tone of Ian's voice and the look on his face. Everyone sees Ian as this nice guy who wouldn't hurt a fly. But now, Lucy could see the anger in his eyes, and she believed for the first time that if Ian was in the same room as Chris, he would crush him. It was also the first time that Lucy thought he would be capable of hurting Chris. She found herself staring at Ian's biceps.

"Thanks Ian," Lucy said with a sincere smile. "I honestly feel better after to telling you, because I can't help but notice how sculpted your arms are." Lucy began to laugh, which made Ian chuckle too. He shook his head with a smile.

Lucy stood up and walked away from the stool so Ian could get up as well. As soon as he did, Lucy wrapped her arms around his neck into a hug. She closed her eyes and gave him a little squeeze.

"Thank you," she whispered into his chest. Ian held her and closed her eyes. He didn't say a word, because he didn't have to. He just soaked up the moment.

"Come on," Lucy cheerfully said as she pulled away. "Let's take a picture together. I just love that shirt on you."

It came out nicely, so Lucy decided to post it on her Instagram. The caption read: "Only Mr. Harding could find a way to cheer you up in the worst times." The likes started came pounding in.

**Okay here's chapter two! Thank you for the reviews/views on my first story! I hope you enjoy this. I plan on posting once a week on the weekend. I just don't have time during the week. Please let me know what you think.**

**Also, I apologize for the format of the previous chapter. There was supposed to be a clear break in between Ian's part and Lucy's, but it was published like it was a continuation of the scene at Ian's apartment. **

**PLEASE REVIEW AND FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER! MorganHardingx **


	3. Chapter Three Part I

**THIS WAS SO HARD TO DO BECAUSE I AM EMOTIONALLY UNSTABLE AFTER TUESDAYS EPISODE BUT HERE IT IS **

Ian couldn't get it off of his mind. What was Chris planning to do? He tried his best to let it go the rest of the day, but as soon as he got back to his apartment, he couldn't hold it in any longer.

Instead of punching the wall and leaving a huge hole in it like he did the last time he was this upset, he jumped onto the treadmill in the corner of his living room and ran. Fast. Ian sprinted as fast as he could until he could barely breathe. He didn't know how much time went by, but as soon as he stepped off he collapsed onto his couch.

A few hours later, Ian woke up. He was drained, physically and emotionally. Enough time went by for all of his anger to now turn into a different feeling, although he couldn't exactly pin point what it was.

As he sat up from the couch he rubbed his eyes and glanced at his phone on the coffee table in front of him. The bright light blinded him in his dark apartment. 1:30AM. Shocked at the time, Ian tried to remember exactly what happened when he got home. Suddenly, he realized he felt cold from the dried sweat that stuck to his body. "Oh right," Ian said out loud to himself. "Better go shower now."

While in the shower, still disoriented from just waking up, Ian could not seem to get a melody out of his head. He did not know where it came from, but it intrigued him. Before he knew it he was matching words to the rhythm.

As soon as he got out of the shower and put on some clothes, Ian went over to the desk next to his TV in the living room and wrote them down. One thing Ian liked to keep a secret from his cast mates was his musical background; through high school and college, Ian was a member of not only plays, but musicals as well. He could play piano since he was 8 years old and guitar since he was 12. He didn't really like telling anyone because he only wanted to focus on acting for the time being. He also didn't want to fall into that stereotype of actors pretending to have musical talent. Everyone knows it's just auto tune (except for a few, like Lucy. She's amazing).

Keegan is the only one who has heard Ian sing. He finally convinced him one day when they were hanging out at a new guitar shop in LA. Both Keegan and Ian weren't filming that day, so Keegan invited him to go check it out. They picked out a few guitars to try out in the sound room, and before Ian realized what he was doing, he was singing while playing the guitar. Keegan told everyone on set the following day how good he was, but Ian refused to sing. He would laugh and say that Keegan was just being nice.

Once the lyrics were written down, Ian brought the paper over to the small piano he had against the side wall. As soon as he began to play, he finally realized that this was exactly what he was feeling:

When you try not to look at me

Scared that I'll see you hurting

You're not hiding anything, no

And frankly it's got me worried

Nobody knows you better than I do

I keep my promises, I'm fighting for you

You're not alone

I'll listen till your tears give out

You're safe and sound, I swear that I won't let you down

What's hurting you I, I feel it too

I mean it when I say

When you cry, I cry with you, with you

I'm not going any place

I just hate to see you like this

No, I can't make it go away

Oh, but keeping it inside won't fix it

I can't give you every answer that you need

But I wanna hear everything you wanna tell me

You're not alone

I'll listen till your tears give out

You're safe and sound, I swear that I won't let you down

What's hurting you I, I feel it too

I mean it when I say

When you cry, I cry with you, oh

Yeah, I cry with you

_You need love tough enough to count on_

_So here I am_

You're not alone

I'll listen till your tears give out

You're safe and sound, I swear that I won't let you down

What's hurting you I, I feel it too

I mean it when I say

When you cry, I cry with you

**OK I KNOW THIS IS SHORT but I wanted to put this little piece out first because I feel like my next section is a little long. Don't worry I am writing the next chapter (which is kind of like chapter 3 part 2) AS YOU READ THIS and if it isn't up tonight it will be up by tomorrow! **

**PLEASE PLEASE go search the song Cry With You by Hunter Hayes because it is awesome and I want you to hear how it actually goes. It fits in with this plot perfectly in my opinion. And if you skipped over any of the lyrics please go back and read them! **

**Thank you for the reviews/views! **

**FOLLOW ME ON TWTITTER PLEASE! MorganHardingx **


	4. Chapter Three Part II

Lucy had told Annie all about what Chris has said to her earlier that day. They were walking through Target, Starbucks in hand, looking for a cheap movie to buy and watch for the night. Lucy and the rest of the crew didn't have to be on set until noon the next day, which was good but also bad. Good, because that meant she could sleep in, and bad because it meant they'd all be there until at least two in the morning.

"I don't know Luc," Annie began. "If that were me, I'd hire a security guard or something. You know Chris has a bad temper. Now, do I think he's going to try to get back at you by like, beating you up? No, but sometimes you just can't trust people who say things like that."

Lucy took a sip of her coffee. "Yeah, I know. I told Ian about it. He got really mad actually and said he'd watch out for me." Lucy smiled and felt herself slightly blush. She quickly looked down and fiddled with her green straw.

Annie noticed and smiled. "How is Ian by the way? You were so nervous about seeing him, but it seems like things are going well."

Lucy looked back up at Annie. "Yeah, they're going really well. He's kind of different, but at the same time he's the same."

"Different? How?" asked Annie.

Lucy caught herself smiling again. "I don't know he's just," Lucy stopped smiling, looked down and shook her head. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. He's dating someone now anyways." She picked up a movie off of the shelf and held it up. "How about this one?"

"Wait a second," said Annie as she grabbed the movie out of Lucy's hand and set it back down. "Ian has a girlfriend?"

Lucy sighed. "Yeah apparently. Keegan told me the other day. I just don't get why Ian hasn't told me yet." She continued to browse through movies.

"Well isn't it obvious? Ian cares about you! He probably likes this girl, but she's nothing compared to the way he feels about you. I bet he can't bring himself to tell you, since it sounds the two of you have been bonding. I think you need to do something about it before you let this go too far." That was all Annie was going to say, because she knew it would do the trick.

After a terrible night's sleep, Ian woke up the next morning knowing he had to call her. It just wasn't fair to write a song like the one he did last night and let her believe it didn't happen. Ian sat up in bed, grabbed his phone, a dialed her number. She answered right away.

"Hey good morning Ian, how are you?" she said.

"Hi Sophie. I'm alright but I need to talk to you. Can we meet downtown in like, twenty minutes?"

Sophie grew quiet. She knew what was coming. "Yeah," she said. "Okay."

Once at work, Ian wanted to tell Keegan about the song he wrote. Not _who_ it was about, but he wanted his opinion on it. He figured he'd play it for him when they both had a break in the music & sound room in the editing building on the lot.

It was about 5PM when the crew got their first break. The girls were getting cleaned up from their previous scene, and Keegan was Keeking, of course.

"Hey Keegan, do you mind listening to a song I wrote?" Ian asked after Keegan was done with his 30 second video.

Keegan put his phone back into his pocket. "Yeah sure, let's go."

Once they got there, Ian sat down at one of the pianos without saying anything and began playing. After he was finished, he waited a moment before looking up to see Keegan's reaction.

"Woah man," Keegan said. "That's pretty deep right there. Whoever that's about…" Keegan hesitated and then winked. "I think you better tell her."

Ian thought about what Keegan had just said. "Alright, thanks for listening."

Keegan smiled. "I'll see you later."

As soon as Keegan was out of the room, he took out his phone and sent Lucy a text:

Ian just wrote an amazing song. You've got to hear him sing it. Ask him later, but you didn't hear it from me. -Keeg

"Alright guys, you're all set. Lucy, you have another scene in about 45 minutes, and Ian, you have one right after that. Crew, outside for the next shot."

Marlene was on the move. It was already 1:00AM and there were four more scenes to shoot. Everyone was exhausted. Lucy and Ian just finished shooting their last scene together for the day, which took place in Ezra's apartment of course. The scene was simple; Lucy and Ian lying next to each other on Ezra's bed. Just talking though, no kissing or cuddling. However, Ian was told to be shirtless for the scene. Might as well show off his new body.

Everyone was quick to leave the room to set up for the next scene. However, Lucy and Ian didn't move. They were beginning to fall asleep, that's how tired they both were. As she was resting, Lucy began to think about the text she received earlier that day from Keegan. He has told her in the past that Ian can sing, but he refuses to sing in front of her. Keegan has made references about his songs relating to Lucy, but ever since she found out that Ian was seeing someone, she figured Keegan misunderstood.

It was bothering her that she knew nothing about this girl. Lucy wondered how should could possibly bring her up. She turned her head slightly to the left to look over at Ian. He was lying on his back, head facing up, with his eyes shut. Lucy smiled to herself because hey, it was a nice sight. He had a 5 o'clock shadow going on, which she found very attractive. Not to mention his shirt was still off.

Since they were the only ones in the room, she figured she'd try to ask him about the girl.

"Ian," she whispered. "Are you awake?"

Ian moaned and began to rub his eyes. "Yeah, I am unfortunately," he said.

"So…" began Lucy. "Can I ask you something?"

Ian finally opened his eyes and turned his head to face Lucy.

"Yeah what's up?"

"Why didn't you tell me that you had a girlfriend? I know it's not really my business but, I don't know I just thought we told each other that kind of stuff."

Ian looked confused. "How did you know?" he asked.

"Oh, you know" she began. "Like, Twitter and stuff."

Ian chuckled. "You and your Twitter. Are you ever not on it?"

Lucy smiled. "No, I'm always there; watching, scrolling, and judging."

Ian laughed and faced forward again briefly. Then he looked back at Lucy.

"I didn't tell you because my feelings for her were constantly changing, and I guess I figured it'd be best not to tell other people about her until I knew who she even was to me in my life."

"But, you told other people that you guys were seeing each other. You just never mentioned her to me."

Ian looked caught off guard. "Well," he started. "That's because…it's just that…I don't know." He shook his head and looked down. "I guess it was just different telling you."

Lucy wasn't sure how to take that. "Were you," she started, looking at him although he didn't return the stare, "embarrassed to introduce her to me?"

Ian quickly looked back up at Lucy. "No!" he said assuringly. "Not at all. To be honest, I don't think I have a real answer for why I didn't."

Lucy didn't know what to say, so she looked down and began spinning the ring on her finger. Ian turned his head back to the natural position, looking up at the ceiling.

"You don't have to worry about that though, because I broke up with her today," he said quickly and quietly.

Lucy couldn't help but realize the happiness she instantly felt when he said that. _Wait, why would this make me happy?_ She thought. _All I want is for Ian to be happy._

"Oh," Lucy said quietly. "I'm sorry to hear that, Ian."

Ian turned his head back to face Lucy. "No don't be, really. I just don't have feelings for her like I thought I did."

The two stared at each other for a minute before either of them spoke again.

"Alright, I have one more question," said Lucy. "Can you please sing something for me?"

Ian laughed and shook his head. "Here we go again."

Lucy propped herself up on her elbow. "Seriously Ian! I know you can sing. I just want to hear you."

When Ian simply shook his head again, Lucy sighed and plopped back down. _You know what, _she thought. _Maybe he'll start singing if I start singing. _

Lucy looked straight ahead, let out a deep breath and quietly sang, carefully pausing between each line:

Lying here with you so close to me

It's hard to fight these feelings when it feels so hard to breathe

Caught up in this moment

Caught up in your smile

She stopped and squeezed her eyes shut, knowing her song choice was bold but was hoping it would do the trick. Then, all of a sudden:

I've never opened up to anyone

So hard to hold back when I'm holding you in my arms

Surprised to hear him, Lucy opened her eyes and looked over at Ian, who was staring back at her. Without breaking the stare, they continued the popular duet in unison, getting louder once the chorus kicked in:

We don't need to rush this

Let's just take it slow

Just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight

Just a touch of the fire burning so bright

No I don't want to mess this thing up

I don't want to push too far

Just a shot in the dark that you just might

Be the one I've been waiting for my whole life

So baby I'm alright, with just a kiss goodnight

Lucy's eyes began to flutter between Ian's eyes and his lips, giving Ian the signal to lead in and kiss her tenderly. Which he did.

**Ok I'm sorry I took longer than anticipated! I kept changing my mind. PLEASE review for this chapter. I want an honest answer: Too corny? For real though please let me know.**

**The song is "Just A Kiss" by Lady Antebellum which is sung by both a guy and a girl. I just thought the song worked perfectly for this scene. **

**Also, Keegan once said on either Instagram or Twitter that Ian does sing, and Ian responded by saying. "That was just a phase" so this story isn't that far-fetched. **

**Expect another chapter the weekend after Easter. Thanks for the support!**

** MorganHardingx **


	5. Chapter Four

Lucy had a hard time sleeping that night, despite the fact had she had been awake for 16 hours; too much was running through her mind. Lucy leaned over and looked at her phone on the stand next to her bed.

5:10am.

Lucy groaned and rolled back over and stared up at the ceiling. She knew she needed her sleep because tomorrow, or today actually, would bring more long hours of filming. But she couldn't because of what happened earlier.

As soon as Ian's lips pulled away from hers, the walkie-talkie buzzed in loudly, telling Lucy she was needed immediately in the dressing room to prepare for the next scene. The walkie-talkie startled both Lucy and Ian, bringing them back to reality. Neither one said a word to each other, just a quick glance into each other's eyes and Lucy was on her way. By the time Lucy was finished filming, Ian had gone home.

Lucy didn't know what to expect the next time she saw Ian. Did she want the kiss to happen? Yes, she definitely did. Then what was the problem? Lucy couldn't find the answer herself, but she could feel herself having doubts. Questions began the shoot through her head.

_What if he didn't like it? How is this going to work? What will the others think? What will happen to us as actors if we break up? What will happen to us as friends if we break up? Is it worth it? _

All of these thoughts made Lucy sick to her stomach. She decided since it was already the early morning, she might as well stay up. She sighed out of frustration as she sat up in bed, pushed her covers off and headed downstairs. The coffee pot was calling her name.

***PLL*  
**

Ian woke up from the sun shining through the blinds he forgot to shut the night before. He rubbed his eyes and leaned over look at the clock on his nightstand. It was 8:00am. "Not bad," he mumbled to himself.

Still tired and unclear about what was a dream and what was reality, Ian sat up in his bed. He was still wearing half of his outfit from the previous night- no shirt and tan pants. Ian was so thrown off from what happened that after Lucy was called for filming, he went straight into his car and drove home. Then he collapsed into his bed.

But this he knew was real. He and Lucy kissed. And not as Aria and Ezra, but as Lucy and Ian. He had always had feelings for her, but accepted that fact that she wanted to be friends. He had finally moved on, and now this? He was so confused. Did she truly like him, or was she just caught up in the moment? Ian wasn't sure if he was ready for this. Allowing himself to dig up his old feelings for Lucy was just going to give him a broken heart in the end.

But he couldn't help it. All of the feelings were coming back. He tried to fight it, but she was asking for it! The intimate talks they were having recently, the (what he took as) flirting, the singing, the song! How could they not kiss after all of that?

Ian didn't know what to do next. "_What will happen the next time we see each other?"_ he thought. He got up out of bed and began to pack a bag for the gym. He didn't have to film today, but he and some of the guys on PLL had their seasonal basketball tournament today. Since the first season, Ian, Julian, Keegan, and Tyler pick a day that is the least busy for them and play basketball on the lot. The winning team gets to pick the punishment for the losers.

Ian picked up a pair of gym shorts and a t shirt off of the floor and slipped them on. _"Maybe I won't have to see her today. If she wants to talk, she knows where to find me." _With that thought, Ian grabbed a banana and a water bottle and headed out the door.

***PLL*  
**

"Alright so it's me and Ian vs. you and Keegan. Best of three, no dirty plays!"

Julian stood in the center of the court, basketball in hand, getting the other ready to play. Ian and Julian wore navy blue muscle shirts, and Keegan and Tyler wore grey. It was a beautiful day, but hot. The majority of the cast and crew were either in inside sets or further away for outdoor scenes.

Even though they lost last year, Ian was confident that he and Julian could win. The guys tend to get super competitive, but Ian believed his new routine at the gym stepped up his game.

***PLL*  
**

Two hours had gone by since the boys started and the score was tied. Both teams had won one game. Before the final game began, they all grabbed some water took a small break.

"That's it. It's too hot out here," Ian said as he took off his drenched-in-sweat shirt. Tyler went to do the same, but Julian protested. "Hey, you two have to keep your shirts on or you'll confuse the teams."

"What?" Tyler laughed at the comment. "That's ridiculous. We can tell each other apart."

Ian smiled and spoke to Tyler. "Well," he began. "We weren't the ones who made the other team forfeit one game last year because we didn't show up in matching shirts? So ha! We beat you to it!"

The guys laughed remembering how much grief Tyler gave Ian and Julian just to be annoying (in a fun way of course). This was there version of payback. Tyler laughed and gave Ian a shove as they returned to the court. Julian took his shirt off and followed Ian and Keegan.

This final game was the deciding one, so the guys were going crazy. The score was 10-8 with Ian and Julian in the lead. They were playing to a score of 25. The hoops were a little shorter than normal, so everyone could dunk which made it interesting. Except for Julian though, because he was still too short.

Keegan was dribbling down the court and threw a sloppy pass to Tyler. Ian tipped it away and ran down to the other basket and completed a perfect dunk.

"Ohhh! Take that!" Julian shouted to his opponents as he ran over and shoved Ian around the way guys do at sports games. Keegan and Tyler walked over to them and began messing around too when all of a sudden…

"Impressive boys," said a feminine voice.

The guys turned around. There stood Troian, Ashley, and behind them, Lucy.

"Oh man Troian how long have you guys been here," asked Keegan playfully.

Troian continued. "Long enough to see that crazy dunk! Ian, I don't remember you doing that last year."

"That's because he couldn't," Julian piped in. "But look at this dude now!" Julian grabbed Ian's shoulders and shook him. Ian shook his head and looked down, smiling bashfully.

"You girls don't want to see this," Ian said, looking at Troian. ''We're a bunch of amateurs."

"I think it'll be fun," said Ashley with a smile, sipping from the straw in the juice she was drinking. With that said she plopped down on the grass next to the court. Troian shrugged her shoulders and followed Ashley. Lucy paused; she looked up at Ian, who was staring right at her. Their eyes locked, and for a minute it seemed liked time stopped. But suddenly…

"Luc, you coming?" Ashley called to her from the ground.

Lucy pulled away from Ian's eyes and sort of shook her head to bring herself back to her surroundings.

"Um, yeah," Lucy said passively as she walked over and sat down next to Ashley. Ian followed her with his eyes, only breaking his stare once Keegan grabbed the ball out of his hands.

"Let's go!" shouted Keegan, dribbling down to the opposite basket to get the game going again.

Ian shrugged and got back to the game. As time went on the two teams became more and more equally matched. Before they knew it the score was tied. Next basket wins. Julian had just made a beautiful swish and was backpedaling in preparation for the offensive attack, but Tyler interrupted the flow of the game.

"Alright hold on a sec," Tyler let out, a little winded. He held the ball and began walking toward Ian and Julian so he wouldn't have to project his voice so much.

"I want another reward for the winning team, and a better punishment. This game is too close just to have the winner earn bragging rights. There should at least be a rule that the losers have to tweet about the winners or something like that."

"I have an idea," Lucy piped in from down on the grass. The boys were surprised to hear her; they figured the girls stopped paying attention five minutes in.

"Oh, ok," Tyler started. "What is it?"

"Well," Lucy began with a smile. She shifted her weight off of her arms that were extended behind her and sat up straight, resting her hands on her knees. "I was planning on UStreaming tonight to share some music news with people on Twitter, so how about the winning team makes an appearance?"

The guys turned and looked at each other for opinions. When Ian could tell that everyone thought that was a reasonable solution, he spoke up.

"Okay, we're in. Now let's finish this game guys, I'm getting hungry." Ian once again grabbed the ball and began dribbling around. But not without giving Lucy the slightest smile, which gave him butterflies when he got one in return.

All it took was one more play for Ian to receive the perfect pass from Julian, allowing him to go in for the layup. The final score: 25-24. Ian was going to be UStreaming with Lucy.


	6. Chapter Five

Ian was getting ready to walk out the door of his apartment when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He stopped to reach down and pull it out to read. It was a text from Julian.

_Hey man, I can't make it to Lucy's tonight so go on without me. Have fun!_

_That's weird_, Ian thought to himself. _Why wouldn't he come when he was so happy that they finally won the tournament? Was he doing this on purpose?_ Before Ian could make another move, his phone began to buzz again in his hand. This time it was a call from Lucy.

"Hello?" Ian said as he pressed his phone against his ear.

"Hey! It's me," Lucy began. "So I forgot that painters were coming to my house today to re do my bedroom walls. Is it okay if we Ustream at your place? Julian called me earlier and said he couldn't come, or, you know I'd ask him too but I just thou-"

"Yeah sure, it's fine Luc don't worry about it," Ian replied. He looked around and smiled. "Just don't judge me if it's really messy over here. You didn't give me much of a warning."

Lucy laughed. "I'm sure it looks better than mine. Alright I'll just grab my laptop and see you in like, fifteen minutes ok?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

"Alright, thanks Ian."

***PLL***

Lucy stood outside the door of Ian's apartment. Her nerves were coming back again, even after she spent the whole ride over telling herself to calm down. She had a last minute outfit change after trying on her entire closet but still wasn't satisfied. It was one of those moments when nothing looked good at a time when you wanted to look your best.

She took one last deep breath and tapped on the door. A moment later, Ian answered.

"Hey," he said with a smile. "Come on in."

He stepped aside to let Lucy walk in. Once inside, she turned back to look at Ian as he was shutting the door. He looked charming in his dark jeans and red plaid shirt; a simple Ian look. Lucy turned her head to face the rest of his apartment. It was small, but the perfect size for just one person. She was currently standing in what would be recognized as the living room. Against one wall was a couch and coffee table facing a TV. Next to the TV was a desk where his laptop sat alongside a stack of papers. Then she saw his guitar and keyboard, which reminded her of the song he supposedly wrote for her. Lucy felt the butterflies in her stomach once again.

"So," Lucy started, facing Ian. "Where do you want to do this?"

"How about right over here?" asked Ian as he walked over to the coffee table. "I could push the table out a bit and we could lean against the couch. That'd probably be better than us sitting on the couch and leaning over your computer, right?" Ian was beginning to feel the awkwardness in the situation, realizing that this is the first time they have been alone together since they kissed.

"No, yeah, that sounds good."

Once Ian pushed the table back, Lucy sat against the couch to begin setting up her laptop. Ian walked into the kitchen that was open to the living room and looked in the fridge.

"Hey, do you want anything to drink?" his head called from inside.

"Um, whatever you're having is good with me," Lucy replied, her eyes focused on the computer screen.

Moments later Ian plopped down on the couch above Lucy and took a sip from one of the two green teas he brought over.

"Hey so I was going to order some food because I didn't eat dinner yet but I wanted to wait and see if you have. Are you hungry?"

Lucy looked up at Ian on the couch. "Now that you mention it, I am a little. What were you thinking?"

"Well," Ian said enthusiastically. "There's the awesome place my cousin showed me about a month ago. It's Mediterranean food which isn't common but it's really good. And it doesn't make you feel disgusting afterwards."

Lucy laughed. "Like that one time we ordered tacos after shooting at like, 2am from the sketchy place and consumed a whole bottle of Pepto Bismol after?"

Ian starting laughing too. "Oh my god that was so gross! Whose awful idea was that?"

"That would be Tyler."

"Ah, yes, I remember now. Well, don't worry, this place is good. I'll go grab the menu."

***PLL***

"Oh so I forgot to mention the whole reason why Ian is here, or why I am with Ian since we're at his apartment, in the first place!" Lucy told her computer screen. They had been ustreaming for about ten minutes now, goofing around and getting the shout outs to every country out of the way.

Lucy grabbed Ian's hand with both of hers and brought it up so it was on screen. "This guy over here won the—" She looked over at Ian. "What do you call it?"

Ian smiled. "That would be the boys of PLL's annual basketball throw down."

"Right, well Ian and Julian won, and I wanted the winner to come Ustream with me tonight but we don't know what happened to Julian. Ian is representing his team though. And let me tell you guys, Ian is really good at basketball!"

"I am not!" Ian immediately interrupted.

"Well," Lucy said looking back at the computer. "I thought it was impressive."

Just then there was a knock at the door.

"Are you expecting company?" Lucy asked following Ian's glance over to the door.

"Oh! I know what that is!" exclaimed Ian. He popped up from the ground next to Lucy and headed toward the door. A minute later he returned.

"Oh I forgot it's our food!" said Lucy happily, clapping her hands. Ian sat down with the Styrofoam containers in his hands before putting them off to the sides of the laptop off frame.

Lucy looked right at the screen. "Guys Ian ordered us takeout from this Mediterranean place and I'm really excited."

"Yeah it's so good, so sorry if it's rude to eat in front of you guys but we can't wait," Ian said to the laptop as he handed Lucy a plastic fork.

After a couple of minutes of talking and eating, Lucy pointed to one of the comments and chuckled.

"Ian, she said we look like real life Ezria right now."

"Ha! You're right," Ian said, laughing along. "It's the whole eating-takeout-on-the-floor-of-my-apartment thing we've got going on right now."

The chat continued for another twenty minutes or so, with both Ian and Lucy laughing and having fun answering questions. They had forgotten about the awkwardness they felt and acted the way they usually do—that is, very playful and flirty. When the chat was almost over, Ian spotted a question he liked. He squinted his eyes and leaned in closer to the screen to see more clearly.

"Ian was the photo album the girls were going through in the season two finale at Ezra's apartment really pictures of you as a kid?" he read aloud. "The answer is yes, those are real pictures of me. Actually, I had to call my mom because the crew wanted real photos and I obviously don't carry around my baby pictures so the next time my mom came to visit I asked her to bring some and she brought an entire album. Which I still have somewhere around here actually."

"Oh my gosh you have to go get them now," said Lucy playfully.

Ian shook his head regretfully. "Why did I just say that?"

Lucy got up on her feet. "Where are they?"

"Alright, alright I'll show you them but let's just say goodbye first. There is no way I'm showing the whole world." He looked at the screen and shrugged. "Sorry guys."

After saying their goodbyes Lucy brought the remainder of their meals into the kitchen as Ian went into his bedroom to dig out his photo album. He found it on the top shelf of his closet and walked it back into the living room where Lucy was waiting on the couch. He held it in his lap as he sat down next to her.

"Alright listen to me. You are only seeing the pages I say you can see, understood? There are some pretty embarrassing pictures in here that I just can't allow your eyes to see," said Ian in his most serious yet playful tone.

Lucy gave him a sly smile and transferred the album from his lap onto hers. From the first page she was pointing and laughing, all in fun. Ian leaned over her shoulder to look as well, blushing at the ones of him half naked.

"Alright, alright, that enough of that," Ian said with a shameful smile as he removed the album off of Lucy's lap, who couldn't stop laughing.

"No…please, just…just a couple more," she managed to get out.

When Ian said no again, she sat up and snatched the album out of his hands. She tried to make a run for it before Ian could stop her. However, she wasn't so lucky.

"Hey!" Ian shouted. As Lucy stood up to try to get away, he grabbed onto her waist to try to stop her. She was just far enough away so that he couldn't pull her back to the couch, so he held on. Lucy squealed, and began to laugh even harder. She drove her feet into the ground which caught Ian off guard and ended up pulling him forward. The sudden change forced Lucy to the ground face first. Ian followed seconds later on top of her.

The album went flying out of reach for the both of them, so the both gave up and continued to laugh. Ian shifted weight off of Lucy by placing his hands above her shoulders on the ground but he was still directly above her.

"See, I win," said Ian to the back of Lucy's head. In order to challenge his statement, Lucy flipped around onto her back. It was this moment when she realized how close they actually were. Ian's face was just inches above hers. The smile that was on her face as she flipped over turned serious and her heart was now beating ten times faster. She took turns focusing on Ian's eyes and his lips, which were directly above hers.

"Oh yeah?" she whispered back with the same facial expression.

Their eyes locked and stayed that way for what seemed like years. When she couldn't take it any longer, Lucy lifted her head in order for her lips to meet his. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he eagerly kissed her back. Ian slipped his hands under her back and pulled her with him as he sat up. In response, Lucy wrapped her legs around his waist and let one hand slide to his chest and tug on the front of his shirt. In one swift movement, Ian got onto his feet with Lucy still in his arms and made his way to his bedroom, his lips never leaving hers.

**Please please please review! Thanks **

**Follow me on Twitter! MorganHardingx**


	7. Chapter Six

The bright sun rays creeping in from the half open curtains woke Lucy from her sleep. At first she had forgotten where she was, but once she rolled over she found herself smiling. Ian was fast asleep next to her, sprawled out with his chest face down and the sheets hugging his waist.

Lucy rubbed her eyes and looked around for her phone. Realizing she left it on the coffee table from the night before, she decided to leave it. Getting it would require her to get out of bed and she was, well, not dressed.

Instead she looked over at Ian. She placed her hand on his bare back and leaned in to kiss his shoulder. She gave him three more kisses until he began to stir. Ian turned his head to face Lucy's direction and slightly opened his eyes.

"Good morning," he said with a tired smile.

Lucy moved her head so it was right in front of his and brushed his cheek with her hand. The two looked at each other for a while before anyone made another move.

Ian leaned in and gave her a kiss. "Can I make you some coffee?" He offered.

"Yeah that'd be great."

Ian leaned over to grab his boxers and shorts off of the floor and slipped them on before heading to the kitchen. As soon as he left, Lucy looked around for her clothes. She found the leggings she was wearing the night before but couldn't manage to find her shirt. After flipping the sheets over and looking under the bed, Lucy came to the conclusion that she was not going to find it.

She stood up after looking under the bed and sighed. Just then her eye caught something red bunched in the corner.

Ian's shirt.

Lucy smirked at the idea and wondered if Ian would mind. Would that be to bold of a move?

"Hey you're coffee's ready!" Ian called from the kitchen.

"Ok coming!" Lucy called back. Ian's shirt it was.

Ian was so focused on picking up both his and her coffee without spilling it that he didn't look up when Lucy walked into the kitchen.

"Here's your-"

He stopped when he looked up and saw her standing in his shirt.

"-coffee," he said with the biggest smile. "I think I did it right. Regular coffee with vanilla almond milk and a pinch of cinnamon."

"Impressive," Lucy replied with a surprised look on her face while accepting the coffee. "I don't know what I'm more shocked at. That you remember what I make every day on set or the fact that you have vanilla almond milk in your fridge."

They both sat down at his kitchen table across from each other.

"Well, I remember what you like because of that one time we had to keep redoing that dancing scene in the second season. It was like, three o'clock in the morning and you were probably on your fifth cup of coffee since our dinner break. All I could smell when we were dancing was Cinnabon."

Both Ian and Lucy began to laugh. "Oh my gosh I remember that night. That was torture I was so exhausted. But what about the almond milk?"

"Oh right. The almond my cousin brought over after he got into this health kick but drank too much of it that the thought of it in his fridge made him want to puke."

"Ah, so he brings it to your house? Why didn't he just throw it out?"

"Oh, I don't know. I guess he thought I'd want it since I've been going to the gym lately. Like, 'Here Ian! This stuff makes me want to puke but I bet you'll like it!' Yeah, thanks man." Ian laughed and took a sip of his coffee.

Lucy was laughing and drinking her coffee with Ian when her phone buzzed from the living room. She got up to check it. It was a text from Annie.

_Hey, what are you doing?_

It was this text that made Lucy wonder. What _was_ she doing? She and Ian had just crossed the line from being friends to, well, more than friends. Were they going to pursue this or would they go into work this afternoon acting like nothing ever happened? And quite frankly, she didn't even know what she wanted to happen.

"Everything ok?" Ian asked from the kitchen.

"Um, yeah. Annie was just asking me what time I go in today. When do we need to be there again?"

"First scene is supposed to be shot at noon so I guess that would mean get there by 11:00am for makeup?"

"Right, right. Thanks." Lucy responded, plopping down on the couch pretending to write back.

Ian cleared his throat and started to walk over to Lucy.

"Hey so, um, I was thinking. Since it's already 10:00 and we're both leaving soon for work, maybe..." Ian stopped. He didn't really know how to continue. However, Lucy could tell where he was going with this because she was thinking the same thing.

"Maybe we should just..." Ian tried to continue.

"Maybe we shouldn't say anything about us until we can talk about it?" Lucy tried to help Ian out.

"Yeah, you know just so we don't confuse anyone or ourselves for that matter."

"No, I totally agree."

Lucy and Ian looked at each other for a minute, trying to read what the other one was thinking. Lucy looked Ian up and down, trying to think about everything that would change if they kept this up. When she found herself smiling after staring at his still bare chest for too long, she jumped to her feet.

"Well I should get going then so I can put on a fresh pair of clothes and get to set on time."

Ian stood up as well. "Ok well I'll see you soon I guess."

Lucy gave Ian a smile and a kiss on the lips.

"Yeah, I'll see you later."

As she walked out of his apartment, Ian walked into his room to get dressed but suddenly started to laugh. He just realized that Lucy was going out in public with his shirt on.

**Sorry I took so long I'll try to update sooner from now on! **

**Twitter: MorganHardingx **


	8. Chapter Seven

Ian walked into the common room that morning, ready for a long day of work. Not everyone was there yet so he had some time to relax before getting started. He spotted Julian on set making coffee and made a beeline for him.

"Hey," Ian said as he approached Julian.

Julian looked up and smiled when he realized it was Ian. "Hey man! What's going on?"

Ian looked around and then lowered his voice to talk. "Dude, what the hell was last night? Why didn't you come to Lucy's?"

"I thought you did the Ustream at your house?" Julian responded smirking.

"Well yeah because painters were coming to her house that evening but that's beside the point."

Julian was back to focusing on making his coffee so Ian grabbed his shoulder to turn Julian toward him. "Julian, why did you do that?"

"Come on, man. Are you saying that you're mad that I did? I'm not blind you know. I could tell something was going on, I was just trying to help you out."

Ian smiled thinking about the previous night. Of course he wasn't mad that Julian didn't show up last night. He was actually thrilled that he and Lucy had the night to themselves. But it also made everything extremely complicated. It will be pretty hard to go back to being just friends after the night they shared. Julian could read these thoughts on his face.

"You alright mate?"

Ian didn't know. He didn't know what he was getting himself into. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine."

Ian grabbed a Styrofoam cup and poured himself a cup a coffee from the pot Julian had just prepared. The two of them sipped their cups in silence for a minute, Ian deep in thought and Julian watching him curiously.

"So," Julian began. "How was the Ustream?"

"Oh, you know," Ian began, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "It was...fun." Ian took another sip.

Julian stared at him, waiting for more.

Ian shrugged then chuckled. "She made fun of my baby pictures." He was not about to say more based on the agreement he and Lucy made that morning.

Julian was going to ask more but was called into the other room for makeup.

Ian let out a sigh of relief and took a seat in a nearby chair. He looked up at the sound of girls talking, and sure enough Lucy and Ashley happened to arrive at the same time and were walking inside together. Ian was apprehensive about his and Lucy's encounter all morning; how was he supposed to act normal after everything that had happened last night?

Ashley walked into the room, pushing her sunglasses up through her hair and onto her head as Lucy followed behind her.

"Oh!" Ashley exclaimed, startled to see Ian. "Hey Ian I didn't see you there."

Lucy whipped her head around when she heard Ashley say his name. "Oh yeah, hi Ian," she said kind of shyly.

"Hey guys," Ian said with a smile. He stood up and found himself nervously rubbing his neck. "So do you want any coffee? Julian made a pot a little while ago."

"No I'm alright thanks though. Luc do you want any?" Ashley asked Lucy.

"No it's ok, I already had a cup this morning." Lucy froze. Of course Ian knew that. He's the one who made it for her. She could feel herself blushing.

Ian saw her face but all he could do was smile. Ashley looked confused after seeing Lucy's reaction and Ian's failure to comment about it. She tried to change the subject.

"Hey didn't you guys Ustream last night with Julian? How'd that go?"

Lucy looked up at Ian who was almost laughing. It made her feel better. She realized how silly they were being and suddenly she found herself laughing while staring back at him.

"What's so funny?" asked Ashley even more confused.

"Well, Julian never showed up so it was just me and Ian, that's all. It was fun," replied Lucy.

Before Ashley had a chance to comment, Lucy began to head toward the next room.

"I better get a head start in makeup this morning. I didn't get much sleep last night. See you in a bit ok?" Lucy said to Ashley as she was almost out the door.

She turned back and looked at Ian who had caught onto her reference. He took his turn at blushing this time. Lucy turned back around and walked out of the room shaking her head.

"_Man_," she thought to herself. "_Today is going to be interesting."_

**Ok let me know what you think please! Anything you want to see happen in particular in this story? I'd love to know your thoughts :) either comment or tweet me morganhardingx**


	9. Chapter Eight

As the day went on, Lucy and Ian realized that they didn't have to worry in the first place. The day turned out to be one of the most hectic filming days the cast has had since the season began. Marlene had gotten a phone call that morning about an event the cast had been invited to attend that very evening. Usually she would've turned it down since filming was already scheduled to take place throughout the night, but this was something special. The cast and producers of Pretty Little Liars were invited to attend the Greenfield Festival, a gathering of selected small screen actors and producers who are given the opportunity to speak to larger networks, producers, writers, and actors. Marlene believed that this would be too big of an opportunity to pass up, even though it was last minute and through off the entire shooting schedule.

Thinking back, the entire day seemed like a blur; people literally running back and forth to try to get each scene ready and shot before 4:00pm, the time everyone had to go home and get ready for the festival which started at five.

Ian opened his car door and plopped down in the driver's seat. It was the first time he sat down since this morning. For being broken up with Aria, Ezra sure did have a lot of scenes to film.

Ian turned the key in the ignition and blasted the AC. He wiped the beads of sweat off of his forehead which formed from a mixture of the hectic schedule and the California heat. As he began his drive home, he thought about the day and what the evening would be like. He and Lucy's make up scene was supposed to be shot tonight but was now put off for a few days. Thinking about it, Ian hadn't seen Lucy since this morning with Ashley. He didn't really know what to expect tonight at the festival; he figured he would just go with the flow for both the professional and social aspect.

He was told that the festival was going to be held at Trattoria L'incontro, an Italian restaurant known for its extravagance: large dining halls designed to hold all kinds of weddings and parties. Not to mention it's built right on the beach. He was told that the event's attire was business-casual, so he kept that in mind while picking out an outfit.

After taking a quick shower, Ian settled with Khaki shorts and a light blue dress shirt that had sleeves folded at his elbows. He put on his nice watch and sprayed a few squirts of cologne before putting his sunglasses on top of his head and heading back out the door.

***PLL***

"Ok Annie which one? The white dress or the red one? Quick though I'm already late." Lucy impatiently held up the two dresses for her friend to choose. It was already 4:30pm and Lucy still needed to curl her hair and finish her make up.

"Hmm I'm thinking...the white one," replied Annie.

Lucy immediately threw the white dress down on her bed and hung the red one back up in her closet. Annie made her way in from her previous position in the doorway and sat down on Lucy's bed. Lucy quickly made her way to the bathroom that was attached to her room.

"So what's this for again?" Annie asked Lucy. She left the door open since she was just doing her hair.

Focusing on herself in the mirror, Lucy responded. "It's an event for small screen actors and producers. It's supposed to bring us to the next step in our career. It's invite only so it must be pretty big."

"Huh. And the whole cast is going?"

"Yeah and the writers and producers. They can benefit from it too."

After a moment, Annie asked another question. "Why was it so last minute though?"

"I don't know," Lucy began. "Marlene just got the call this morning. Maybe that's their way of doing things. Or maybe they would've called last night but we weren't filming."

Annie smiled at the perfect segue Lucy had just created.

"Speaking of last night," she began. "You never told me what you were doing. Where did you go?"

"_Crap_," Lucy thought. This was the problem with having a roommate. It's hard to make up an excuse that you came home late when in fact you didn't when the person you're lying to lives in the same house. She tried to play it cool.

"Oh remember I had to do that Ustream with Ian and Julian last night." She put down the curler and began to work on her make up.

"Yeah I know that," Annie said. "But I thought you were doing it here since I was going to be working, and when I came home you weren't here and ddnn't come back all night."

Lucy could sense Annie's suspicion. "Yeah well I decided to go to Ian's since it was messy here from the painting and all."

"...and then you stayed there?"

"Yeah, I just like, fell asleep because it was late and I didn't want to have to drive home because I was tired and we had work in the morning and it was dark-"

"You didn't just fall asleep did you!?" said Annie excitedly, wanting to hear the details of her gossip.

Lucy sighed and had that _I'm busted_ look on her face. Usually at this point she would talk to Annie about her relationship status but time was ticking. "Not exactly," she mumbled.

Annie jumped out of bed and stood closer to Lucy. She raised her hands to her face. "Oh my god Lucy, did you hook up with Ian?"

For the first time since the conversation had started, Lucy turned and faced Annie. When she saw her best friend's face, she couldn't hold in her smile any longer.

"Ok, ok, I spent the night with Ian."

Annie grabbed Lucy's hands and sort of waved them up and down. "Oh my god Luc! I told you that you liked him!"

Lucy smiled but then started thinking. "I know but, I don't know what to do. We still have to talk about what's going on. I mean this could get really messy."

"Well what does he say about it?"

Lucy returned to getting ready. "He said we need to talk about it. So we aren't saying anything to anyone until we do. I was thinking the sooner the better but with this event tonight I don't know if we'll get much alone time."

Lucy checked the time on her phone. "Crap I really need to go Ann." She put her mascara down and quickly changed into her dress.

"How do I look?" Lucy asked Annie. She wore a white summer dress with tan sandals and soft curls in her hair.

"Well now that you're trying to impress someone..."

"Annie!" Lucy exclaimed as she threw a pillow at her friend. The two of them laughed at the teasing.

"I'll see you later," Lucy said walking out of the room.

Annie leaned forward to call out to Lucy. "You sure about that?"

***PLL***

The festival was nicer than Lucy expected. There were tons of people socializing and making business deals simultaneously. The food and drinks were endless: salads, seafood, pasta, pastries, and cocktails.

Lucy needed to take a breather from the crowd and food, so she headed for the deck that jutted off the back of the building overlooking the beach. She wanted to try to find some of her cast mates. She saw everyone when she first got there but they all dispersed to talk to the networks that interested them.

She got out onto the deck and spotted Ian leaning against the railing facing the ocean.

"Hey," Lucy said approaching him. She studied his face which was still looking out. He seemed distracted.

She placed her arm on his bicep. "Hey are you ok?"

Ian looked at Lucy and have her a small smile. "Yeah, I just...I got a phone call from my sister. She said my mom's sickness is acting up today. She insisted I stay here though and that if it got really bad she'd call." He paused. "I don't know, I just hate seeing her sick. A couple weeks ago she had to go to the hospital and I'm afraid she'll have to go again."

It's hard to determine how to comfort someone. Some people appreciate the "I'm sorrys" while others want you to carry on like nothing is wrong.

Lucy looked out at the water and then up at Ian. "Come on," she said grabbing his hand and pulling it. "Let's go for a walk."

***PLL***

Lucy walked down to the edge of the water, her shoes in one hand, Ian's hand in the other. They stopped and looked out at the water, the setting sun reflecting off of it. Lucy let out a deep breath and looked up at Ian.

"I'm sorry about your mom, Ian. Whatever you need I'm here for you."

The biggest smile came across Ian's face as he looked at Lucy. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Thank you. You don't know how much that means to me."

He pulled her into a hug, kissing the top of her head. When they pulled apart Ian put up an irresistible offer.

"Want to watch the sunset?"

They moved a couple steps back so the water was out of reach. Ian plopped down as Lucy sat in between his legs. He wrapped his arms around her as she leaned her head back into his chest. She tilted her head to look up at him, where he leaned down to kiss her. It was perfect, except for the fact that they were still right below the deck where everyone was socializing.

Everyone, including Ashley and Shay.

**Duh dun dun... :p Sorry this took way longer than expected! Please PELASE review! **

**Next week is going to be pretty busy for me so don't expect an update I'm sorry. **

**Twitter : MorganHardingx**


	10. Chapter Nine

**I added this first part in italics from chapter two to remind you of one of the characters that is coming back. Once the italics stop it picks up from the previous chapter. **

"_Hey," Ian said quietly as he sat down. He rested his head in his right hand, leaning on the counter facing Lucy. _

"_Hey," Lucy said even quieter, only looking at him briefly then wiping her eyes._

"_What's wrong?"_

_Lucy now turned her body to face Ian, and in response Ian sat up straight and faced her. The stools were close, which forced their legs to fit together like some sort of puzzle. However, it was comfortable. _

_Lucy tried to gather herself in order to speak. "You know how Chris and I broke up, but it was kind of a while ago?" Ian nodded. "Well, it wasn't a good break up. Chris was really upset about it and said some nasty things to me. He even went off on Twitter, which is just embarrassing. Anyways, he bothered me for a while after we broke up, but finally he just gave up as time went by. I haven't heard from him since November, so I figured he moved on." _

_She paused for a minute and wiped her eyes again. "Ashley ran into him at the airport a couple days ago, and I don't blame her for saying hi because it would just be awkward if she didn't, but it's made him think of me again. He's been texting me and calling me, so I finally picked up the phone to try to tell him to stop, and he went off on me." Lucy began crying again as she continued. "He keeps saying he's going to get me back for it, and I don't know what he means. I don't think he would ever hurt me physically, but I don't know what he has in mind."_

Lucy found herself drowning in coffee the next morning at 7am. She was sitting in her makeup chair half asleep preparing for the upcoming day of shooting. Today was going to be rough because they had to make up for the lost time yesterday. Lucy didn't get home until after 1am the previous night and probably wouldn't get home until that time tonight.

As she scrolled through all of her mentions on Twitter, Ashley came in and sat in the chair next to her. She let out a loud sigh to let Lucy know she was there.

"Hey Ashley," Lucy said in a monotone, her eyes not leaving her phone.

"Hey," she said, looking over briefly then looking back at the magazine in her lap.

After a minute she added, "So, how was your night?"

"It was good." Lucy looked over at Ashley. "Yeah I met the producer of Glee. It was like, a dream come true." She chuckled at her obsession. "What about you?"

Ashley went along with the small talk, trying to break down to what really happened last night; what Ashley and Shay saw from the deck at the restaurant.

"Yeah I had fun. Tyler actually got an offer from NBC on an upcoming show. They liked his…" Ashley lifted her hands to make air quotes, "Johnny Depp look."

Lucy laughed. "Yeah, who doesn't?"

She looked back down at her phone and once again it was quiet. Ashley looked around, thinking of another segue for the topic to come up.

"How do you think Ian liked it? I didn't see him much last night." She fibbed.

Lucy looked up at Ashley. "I don't think he enjoyed as much as he would've liked to. He was kind of...distracted."

Ashley assumed Lucy was hinting that she herself was his distraction and was surprised by her bold comment.

"Oh!" she responded. "By what?"

Lucy looked over her shoulder and then spoke in a lower time. "Well, his mom's sickness has been acting up and he's worried for her. I don't know if he wants people to know about it so just, keep it on the down low ok?"

Ashley, caught off guard by the serious subject, felt silly continuing to quiz Lucy about her night so she dropped it...for now.

"Yeah, no problem," she said quietly, sinking in her chair a bit and burying her head into the magazine in her lap.

***PLL***

"Ahh! Damn that hurts!" Ian yelled, rubbing his newly bare yet red chest. "I'm glad I'm not Keegan who has a shirtless scene once an episode because this is flat out painful."

Mandi, the makeup artist, took a step back and looked at Ian.

"I just hope the redness goes down by this afternoon. Other than that, you look great!" She turned her head at the sound of footsteps coming down the hall. It was Lucy heading to wardrobe.

"Hey Lucy!" Mandi called from in the room still. "Doesn't Ian look good?"

Lucy popped her head in and saw Ian facing her, shirtless. She looked him up and down with a smirk.

"Yeah, looks great."

Lucy laughed to herself as she continued down the hall. Marlene passed her and waved her down.

"Hey, Lucy, got a sec?"

"Yeah sure Marlene what's up?"

"We've casted some new characters for some upcoming episodes and there a few that just you will mainly be working with. I was wondering if you could come over to Lot B this afternoon and give us your opinion. The roles are basically all figured out already but I still wanted to see what you thought."

"Oh! Sure Marlene no problem sounds fun. Is it like, a love interest or an enemy or...?"

Marlene gave a sly smile and began to walk away.

"You'll see."

***PLL* **

"Ok so here's what we're looking for. We want you guys to get into a heated argument, like really get into it. Lucy, I want tears. And then just when you would think the fight would escalate to a point where one of you storm away, drop your line Lucy, and Ian you pull her into a passionate kiss. Keep going until we call cut and then we'll go into the next part. Sound good?"

Lucy looked at Ian standing across from her and raised her eyebrow, asking if he was ready without the words. When he smiled in return, Lucy turned back to face Marlene.

"Got it."

Marlene walked out of camera range.

"Alright we're rolling in 3, 2,..."

It was easiest time Lucy ever had creating tears and truly getting into character. It was her life; wanting to be with someone but life was in the way. Lucy wanted to be with Ian and she knew he wanted to be with her, but reciting her lines made her think about the consequences of them being together. Compared to her previous relationships, Ian was someone she could see herself getting serious with, falling fast and falling hard for him. She didn't trust herself that she was ready for this kind of relationship yet. Not to mention what would happen to them if it didn't work out. She had to think about her and Ian as coworkers and how that would affect their work.

But everything Ezra said to Aria made her previous thoughts go out the window, and what the crew thought was great acting was Lucy simply reacting to the words coming out of Ian's mouth. When Ezra pulled Aria into a kiss, Lucy was so far wrapped into the romance that when they pulled apart, she realized not only how hard it would be to walk away at this point, but how much harder it would be if they waited any longer. However, she wasn't ready to make that decision.

Lucy had to quickly get to into her next scene with Ashley and Troian right after she finished her scene with Ian. As the directors were setting up, the girls sat down on what is known as Spencer's bed. They were quiet because they were tired, focusing on their phones they stashed under the pillows between takes.

Ashley, forgetting about the concerns she had this morning, was ready to drop another hint to Lucy about her and Ian. She and Troian were waiting with Marlene when Lucy was filming with Ian, so she saw everything.

"So," Ashley began, breaking the silence. "Ian looks good doesn't he?"

Lucy was caught off guard by that comment.

"What?" She said almost nervously.

"Well he's been working out, hasn't he? I mean, you could tell when he just had his shirt off...couldn't you?"

"Oh...um yeah, you can tell," replied Lucy.

_What is she getting at_, she thought.

Marlene cut them off. "Ok let's get this scene rolling!"

_Thank god_, Lucy thought.

***PLL***

Marlene walked over to the girls who were grabbing a bite during their break.

"Hey Lucy, the actor who I wanted you to meet is here, do you want to meet him now?"

"Yeah sure."

"Great! Follow me."

Lucy followed Marlene over to a golf cart and hopped in. As she drove down to the opposite side of the lot, she told Lucy a little about the guy.

"He's been in other ABC Family productions, that's how we got his name. We think the audience will like him because he's likeable and has that bad boy look to him. We usually like to use actors who have been in the system so people get familiar with them. It could lead them to bigger projects in the network, you know?"

"Yeah, sounds like a good pick, Mar."

They stopped the golf cart outside one of the buildings and headed inside. Straight ahead was the backside of the actor talking to Oliver, the other producer. His body language looked strangely familiar to Lucy, and suddenly she began to panic.

"Marlene," she said in a soft voice. "What did you say his name was again?"

But she didn't have time to respond, because once Oliver made a gesture to Marlene and Lucy walking in, the actor turned around to greet his new costar.

The actor was Chris.

**Sorry I always take longer to update than I plan! Ok so yes, this Chris guy is based off of a true ex-boyfriend of Lucy's and this idea made me a little uncomfortable. I almost changed his name because what he is going to do in my story has nothing to do with his true self, so I didn't want people to think he's some bad guy (although from what I'm aware of, not many Lucy fans were fond of him). **

**What do you think, should I change his name to make him more fictional or would that be too confusing at this point? Let me know! **

**Twitter: MorganHardingx **


	11. Chapter Ten

She couldn't believe it.

Lucy hadn't heard from Chris since that phone call (which she forgot about until now). What was he up to? What was he planning to do? This obviously was not a coincidence because anyone who knew Lucy knew she worked on this show.

Marlene, trying to break the awkward silence, cleared her throat to talk.

"So, Lucy this is Chris. He said he's seen some of your work before and he has worked with Lindsey Shaw in an ABC Family movie."

Chris walked over to Lucy was stuck out his hand with a slimy smile.

"Nice to see you," he said, grabbing her numb hand and shaking it.

Lucy turned her look into a glare, narrowing her eyes to show him her anger. She did her best to hide it though, and quickly pulled her hand away from. She turned her body to face Marlene who was standing next to her.

"Well, I better get back to the other lot now," she said and quickly walked out without waiting for a response.

***PLL***

It was a long walk back to set but it went by in a blink of an eye. Lucy's mind was going crazy the whole way back.

_Do I tell Marlene? Is that selfish if I do? Is he honestly a threat or just trying to further his acting career? Maybe he didn't tell Marlene that he knew me to try to make is easy on me. Then again, he didn't threaten to get back at me for breaking up with him for no reason. What does that even mean anyway?_

"Lucy!"

Lucy snapped out of her thoughts and focused on the person in front of her. It was Ian. Somehow she had made it back to set already.

"I'm sorry…what?"

"I asked you if you were ok. You like sort of...distracted."

"Oh, um..." She paused, debating whether or not she should tell him. She quickly decided to go with her gut.

"Can I talk to you?"

"Yeah of course."

Lucy grabbed his wrist and brought him off to the side away from the majority of the crew.

"What's wrong? You're starting to scare me," said Ian with a concerned look on his face.

She sighed. "Ok, so Marlene came up to me today and asked me to come see the new guy who basically is completely hired to appear in a couple of scenes later in the season, mainly with me. I followed her over to Lot B just now and..." She pursed her lips and looked off to the side because thinking about it was upsetting her. Her hands were shaking at her sides but she looked back at Ian.

"And it was Chris. Chris! What is he doing here Ian!"

Ian's eyes went wide. "Are you kidding me? That guy is such an asshole I swear-"

Ian bit his lip in order to keep himself in control. It was obvious that he was angry; he was shaking his head, arms crossed, looking around for Chris like he was an annoying mosquito buzzing around his head. Lucy saw that Ian was just as upset now as she was, except that he was looking to do something about it.

"Hey," she said kind of sternly, putting her hand on his crossed arm in order to get his attention. "You can't say anything until I…we, figure out what exactly we should do about this. And honestly , I'd rather let him say his lines and get the hell out of here instead of making a scene and coming off as a drama queen."

"But that's just it, Lucy. You're not being a drama queen by wanting him to leave. And this guy isn't just going to drop his lines, take the money and run. He's doing this to hurt you and I don't like that at all."

Lucy stared at Ian, happy to know she had his help in this but also scared of what he would do. And what the others would think. She didn't have time to say anything else because she heard her name being called. She turned her head to see who it was, and when she realized it was from the crew she turned back to face Ian.

"Ok listen; I'm going to talk to Marlene tonight about his role. And then we'll figure out what to do from there."

Ian lightly threw his head back, not afraid to show his disapproval of her plan. Seeing this, she took both of his hands into hers.

"So until then, you have to promise me that you won't say anything. Promise?"

Ian looked at her and sighed, knowing he had to respect her wishes. "Alright, I promise."

Although she was far from happy, Lucy felt a smile come to her lips. She looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was paying attention, although she didn't really care at this point. She leaned into Ian, placing her hands on his arms and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you," she said with a reassuring squeeze and walked over to film.

**Thanks for the feedback guys! This was quicker than last time, wasn't it? **

**To clear up any confusion, no one on set is **_**supposed **_**to know about their relationship still, and they think no one knows. We'll see though…**

**So what do you think? Is Chris up to no good? Or does he really just want to build his resume? Let me know what you think!**

**Twitter: MorganHardingx**


	12. Chapter Eleven

It took Lucy four takes to say her lines when she usually gets them on the first. She found it hard to show happy emotions when she felt angry, worried, scared, and anxious all at once.

The directors were getting frustrated that a forty-second scene of the girls at lunch was taking so long. They called cut and told the girls to hang tight as they reviewed what they had so far.

As everyone took the opportunity to whip out their phones, Lucy sighed loudly and hung her head in her hands. Ashley took note of Lucy's mood and thought it was finally time to say something. She stood up from her seat across from Lucy and squeezed in next to her. Feeling her presence, Lucy lifted her head up to see Ashley next to her.

"Hey," Ashley said quietly. "Do you want to talk?"

Lucy figured Ashley knew about Chris being here. She was the last person to see him, and now all of a sudden he's looking to work with both girls. Maybe Ashley knew something Lucy didn't. Going with this theory, Lucy nodded her head and got up from the table. The two of them walked off to the side. Once they faced each other, both of them stood awkwardly, not knowing where to start. Finally Lucy said something.

"So I guess you heard."

Ashley put on a guilty face. "Not heard...more like saw."

Lucy looked down and nodded her head, wondering what Ashley thought of the whole situation. She waited for Ashley to say something.

"Did you guys get in a fight or something?" Ashley finally asked.

"No, I didn't say anything to him. I didn't know what to think!"

"Well, it's not like you guys were serious, right? Is that why he's upset?"

Lucy flung her hands and rolled her eyes. "I don't know, but that's pathetic if it is. I mean, come on that was months ago."

Ashley looked confused. "Months ago? Well, those old feeling must've come up when you guys got together at the festival."

Now Lucy was really confused. "What are you talking about?"

"At the Greenfield Festival. I saw you and Ian on the beach together."

That comment made all of the color drain from Lucy's face. She took a step closer to Ashley. "Wait…this whole time you were talking about Ian?"

"Yeah…who were you talking about?"

Lucy placed her hand on her forehand. She couldn't believe what was going on.

"Chris!" she shouted. "My ex-boyfriend! The guy you saw at the airport! That Chris!"

Ashley felt silly. "Ohhh…wait. What happened with him?"

"Oh my god forget it," Lucy said, frustrated that this entire time her and Ashley weren't on the same page. As she began to walk away, Ashley grabbed her hand.

"Wait a second! That doesn't excuse you from this conversation! You still have something very important to tell me."

Lucy sighed. "_Why not,"_ she thought to herself.

"Alright, what do you want to know?"

Ashley smiled wide. "Well, I saw a certain someone lip locking with Mr. Harding the night of the festival."

Lucy began to whisper. "Ashley, you can't tell anyone. We aren't saying anything until we…I don't know, figure out what's going on exactly."

"Well, if you want an outsider's opinion, you two are a match made in heaven. Seriously Lucy, do you see the way he looks at you? Anyone will kill for a guy to love them like that."

Lucy felt herself blushing but she couldn't help it. Ashley was right. Ian was what every girl was looking for. He was everything _she_ had been looking for. All people ever say is how much Ian likes Lucy, but what people don't realize is how much she likes him back. Considering Lucy's history of relationships, it would be unlike any other. And that exact statement is what scares Lucy every time.

It would be different.

It would be one worth fighting for, one that would last, one that she would fully commit to, never holding back.

What if it goes wrong? She can't afford to lose Ian as a friend. Is it too early to start this type of relationship?

Lucy quickly shook these constant thoughts out of her head to get back to the current problem.

"Here's the thing," she began. "Chris is here and is going to be acting with us very soon. He cannot know anything about Ian. As long as he's here, Ian and I are just friends, ok?"

Ashley gave Lucy her word. "Got it."

***PLL***

Lucy was determined to find Marlene before the night was over. She had been searching for a solid thirty minutes and could not find her anywhere. Everything was so chaotic, being they were on a tight schedule and all.

She wanted to give up. Scratch that; she wanted to give up and drink a huge cup of coffee.

After dragging her feet back to the dressing room area, Lucy found herself sitting on the couch across from the coffee machine. With zero desire to move another muscle, Lucy put the coffee idea on hold and tilted her head back, her eyes closing in the process.

"_Someone_ needs their caffeine."

The sound of a voice startled her. But it wasn't just a voice; it was the voice she was looking for.

"Marlene!" Lucy exclaimed as she popped up out of her seat. "I've been looking for you forever. Can I ask you something?"

Marlene looked at her phone for the time. "Yes but make it quick please or we may get interrupted. I'm expecting a phone call soon."

"Of course, of course." Lucy made her way over to Marlene.

"So I just had a question about this...new guy."

Marlene cut in. "Yeah I wanted to ask you about that. Is everything ok? You seemed a little off when we introduced you too."

Lucy shook it off. "Yeah, I'm sorry something was just...on my mind at the time. But I was wondering, what exactly is his role going to be?"

Marlene seemed confused at the question but did not hesitate to answer. "Here's what we're thinking. Either a student or an old acquaintance of Ezra, kind of like a Noel 2.0. Someone who wants to ruin your relationship."

_Buzz buzz_

Marlene looked down at her phone. "Sorry I need to take this. I hope I helped though," she said walking away.

"Well that's just a perfect fit for Chris, isn't it?" Lucy said sarcastically to herself.

"But I think it's something we can deal with."

**Thank you guys for reviewing! It encourages me to update sooner so don't stop :) **

**I'm thinking about writing an Ezria one shot after posting this chapter, so this update may take a little longer. However, the one shot is almost all planned out so it shouldn't take too long. **

**Let me know what you guys think of it all!**

**Twitter: MorganHardingx **


	13. Chapter Twelve

"Ok that's a wrap for this table read. Sorry this week's schedule is confusing but we'll see you guys Monday for filming. Alright, you're dismissed! Enjoy your weekend everyone."

As everyone gathered their things and started to get up, Ian glared at Chris from across the table. He didn't dare move until he was out of his sight. Once he was gone, Ian leaned back in his chair. He hoped that Chris's character wouldn't be around for long because he hated this feeling.

He looked around at who was still in the room. Lucy was a few seats away from him still sitting, scrolling through her phone. Ian smiled at her obsession with social media. The room was getting quiet, only a few people still cleaning up, so he walked over.

"Hey," he said as he sat down in the seat next to her.

When she looked up and saw Ian, she smiled. "Hey what's up?"

"Oh, just got some stuff on my mind I guess."

Lucy gave him a sympathetic look, assuming he was talking about Chris being his main concern.

He asked her another question. "Today was ok, right?"

"Yeah it was fine. We haven't talked since that night so so far everything is...ok. I'm just a little worried about when we starting filming."

"That's Monday right?"

"Yeah...anyways," Lucy set her phone down and leaned forward, resting her arms on the table. "Any good plans for this weekend?"

"Actually," Ian began. "I'm supposed to buy a gift tonight for my cousin's daughter. What does that make her to me again?"

"That would be your second cousin...or first cousin once removed. Something like that." She laughed. "What's her name?"

"Ava. She just turned five and my cousin and his fiancé are throwing a birthday party aka big family reunion tomorrow so I have to be there. Trouble is I have no idea what to buy a five year old girl that I only see on holidays."

Lucy's eyes lit up. "Can I help you? Little girls are adorable!"

Ian acted like he had to think about the offer. "Hmm, Lucy picking out a gift for a little girl. I can see it now…a stuffed unicorn!"

As Ian laughed Lucy playfully slapped his arm.

"I like that idea though." Ian told her after he finished laughing. "I was going to go to the gym after getting out of here, so does a little later work?"

"Yeah that's perfect," Lucy replied. "Just text me when you're ready."

***PLL***

"What about this?"

Ian held up a 100 piece jigsaw puzzle box.

Lucy laughed. "Ian, she's turning 5, not 80."

Ian rolled his eyes and set the box down.

"See? I'm really bad at this. I just want it to be a good gift."

Lucy began to walk to another aisle so Ian followed. When Lucy spotted something, her face lit up but she tried to hide it.

"Uh oh," Ian began. "What did you find?"

"Well," Lucy began. "How much are you willing to spend?"

Ian chuckled and threw his head back because he knew whatever it was, he'd have to buy it because she liked it. He felt like they were a married couple, the wife always getting what she wanted because she was too darn cute to say no to.

Lucy grabbed his arm and pulled him down the aisle to what she had been eyeing.

"A Barbie dream house?" Ian said, surprised at Lucy's choice. "Do kids even play with this anymore? This is so...90s life."

"Sure kids play with them! We just got one for my sister's niece on her husband's side of the family. See?"

Lucy pointed to the box. "It's a modern version."

"Alright well how much is it?"

"Um," Lucy looked around the box to see it she could see the price. "One fifty?"

"A hundred and fifty dollars are you joking!"

"Ian, come on you're famous! You have to impress your family and buy a nice gift or they'll think you're cheap."

Ian laughed at her logic. "You make more money than me, remember? I'm not that rich. But, I guess 'Cousin Ian' has to look good in front of the family so you have me sold."

After checking out and heading back to his car, Ian wasn't so sure that he wanted their time together to end just yet. He looked at the clock. 5:30pm.

"Hey," he said to Lucy who was sitting in the passenger. "Want to grab a bite to eat?"

***PLL***

"You'll have to take a ton of pictures. I want to see Ava's face when she opens her gift."

Lucy took a bite of her cheese tortellini. Ian had let her choose the place, so of course she took him to her favorite Italian restaurant in town; a low key place outside of Hollywood known to locals, not tourists.

Ian was concentrating on twirling his spaghetti onto his fork but added to the conversation. "You know, I was thinking, why don't you come with me?"

Ian looked up at Lucy in attempt to read how she felt about his offer. Was it too much?

"Really? You want me to? I don't want to interrupt a family party."

"Are you kidding? Seeing how good you are with kids I think you'd get a kick out of seeing everyone. Besides, my parents know you, I'm sure they'd love to see you there. But only if you want to."

"Yeah, I'd love to!"

"So now the gift is from Cousin Ian _and_ Lucy," said Ian with a smile.

Lucy took another bite of her pasta and pictured the scene. Ian taking her to a family party, giving his cousin a gift from the two of them. She wondered about the kinds of questions this would cause at the party.

"Can I ask you something Ian?"

He looked a little confused at the somewhat seriousness in her voice. "Yeah sure, what is it?"

Lucy set her fork down and began twirling the ends of her hair. "Well, you'll be bringing me to your family party, just me, where there'll be people with their spouses and fiancés and boyfriends or girlfriends and…" she decided to cut to the chase. "What do we say if someone asks us if we're dating? I've been avoiding this talk but I guess I know it kind of needs to happen."

Ian saw the uncertainty on her face. "Well, what do you want?"

Lucy took a deep breath. "Honestly, I don't want a label right now with what's going on at work—"

"Meaning Chris," Ian cut in, getting angry thinking about him.

"I just don't want to give him a reason to hang around or mess with anyone other than me. And it'll be a lot easier if I don't have to lie about it. This was it can be the truth that we aren't so called 'dating' and then he'll be gone and we can go from there."

Ian sighed, annoyed that Chris was scaring Lucy. "I have no problem with calling you my friend at the party. I just have a problem with him hanging around. Lucy, you have to promise me that you'll tell me if he threatens you or starts messing with you. Promise?"

Lucy was beginning to feel like Aria; she felt obligated to put herself through pain in order to protect the people she cared about. Lucy didn't want Ian getting in the middle of this. She didn't want there to be any sort of drama that would give Chris a reason to cause issues. However, knowing that Ian was there if she became weak enough to need him made her feel like she could handle this.

"OK, I promise."

**So I had other plans for this chapter but it was starting to get long so I'll just put it in the next one. This chapter may have been a little more boring than the others but its setting up the next one well ;) thank you for the feedback! I always love it. Also, do you like it when I write one shots or should I just stick to updating one story at a time? **

**Twitter: MorganHardingx**


	14. Chapter Thirteen

Ian watched the punch swish around in his plastic cup. Raising it to his mouth, he took a drink and watched the commotion in front of him. He spotted Lucy off to the side talking with his sister. He couldn't help but notice how adorable she looked; a light blue dress that ended above her knees, her dark brown hair in long curls. He was in a daze until he felt a hand on his shoulder from behind.

"She's a keeper, isn't she?"

Ian turned his head back to find his cousin, the host of the party. He took a few steps closer so he was now standing next to Ian.

Ian remembered his comment, shook his head and chuckled. "No man, we're just friends."

His cousin, Michael raised his eyebrow. "Just friends? You guys look closer than that."

Ian started to raise his cup to his mouth. "It's...complicated," he said, taking a drink after.

"Well, take a word of advice," began Michael. "Don't let this one get away."

***PLL***

"It's time for cake!"

As a heard of people headed for the table with the cake, Ian went looking for Lucy. He spotted her standing behind the majority of people, her back facing him. He hurried over and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Knowing it would be Ian, she held his hands that rested on her hips and leaned her head back into his chest.

"Hey, I was looking for you just now," she said, tilting her head back to see part of his face.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. Did I leave you for too long?" He kissed the top of her head and moved more to the side of her, still leaving one arm around her waist.

"Oh no, I was fine! I was actually talking to your sister for a while. She's really sweet."

"Yeah? What did you two talk about?"

"You of course, the _entire _time," Lucy said sarcastically. "No but really, we talked about you, and work, and how I was really glad you invited me. Oh, and I took some pictures of her and Ava together so I'll have to print them out so you can give them to her."

"That's great, she'll love that."

Just then, Lucy's phone rang.

She looked at her phone. "Oh it's Annie."

She answered the call. "Hello?...they did? Why?...aw tell her I'm sorry...ok, yeah that's fine...ok call me tomorrow...bye."

"Everything ok?" Ian asked once Lucy hung up the phone.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Annie was just calling because her sister broke up with her boyfriend so Annie is going to spend the night with her. I guess she's really upset about it. She's only telling me because she gave me crap the one time I stayed at your house and didn't call her. And she knows I hate hypocrites."

"Ah, I see. Well we should probably get going soon anyway after they cut the cake right? Since it's like, an hour drive?"

"That's fine with me," Lucy replied. "It's your family; I'll just go with the flow." She hugged his upper arm and leaned her head against him as they watched Ava's face glow from the light of the candles.

***PLL***

After the car ride that turned into a 2.5 hour trip thanks to traffic, Ian finally pulled into Lucy's driveway. The sound of the car shutting off woke Lucy from when she dozed off an hour before.

"Wow, I'm sorry how long was I asleep?" She asked, rubbing her eyes and sitting up straight.

"As soon as we hit the highway you were out...so probably about an hour."

Lucy rubbed her forehead. "Well that's great, there's no way I'm falling asleep tonight."

Ian was surprised. "Really? Just that little nap would keep you up? It's only 10pm."

"Yeah I'm a bad sleeper to begin with. But that's ok, I've got some stuff to do." She paused. "Hey, why don't you come in? I could show you the new paint in my kitchen and bedroom."

Ian hesitated. "No its ok I don't want to keep you from getting stuff done."

Lucy grabbed his hand. "No really, you can see how much better my room looks."

Ian laughed. "Well considering I didn't know what it looked like in the first place, I bet it'll look great so, why not."

Ian followed Lucy up the front steps into the townhouse that belonged to her and Annie. It was very cute; the front door opening to the kitchen, a living room the next room over, and three bedrooms upstairs.

Ian followed Lucy into what he learned was her room. "Wow," he said standing in the doorway. "It's so pink."

Lucy sat down on the edge of her bed. "It suits me, doesn't it?"

Ian took a few steps in, looking around the room. "It definitely does, Luc."

He finally took note of the size of her bed.

"Wow," he exclaimed. "This looks awesome."

With that said he flung himself face down onto one side of her bed. Once he landed, he turned his head so he could talk to Lucy...and breathe.

"What is this, two king size beds stuck together?"

"Oh come on, it's not _that_ big."

Ian propped himself up on his elbows.

"Really? I bet you could fit five people across."

"No way, watch."

Lucy crawled over to Ian's side of the bed from where she was laying. She squeezed against him flat on her back like she was a packing sardine.

"See how much room we take up?" She began. "Only another pair of two _max_ could fit on this bed."

Ian lowered himself from being up on his elbows so that he was now lying flat. He turned his face to look at Lucy who was now inches from him. He smiled at first, but then began to stare, not sure what to say next.

In a much softer voice after a minute and said, "thanks for inviting me inside."

Lucy found herself staring at his lips, inches from hers. "Thanks for bringing me to the party," she practically whispered.

With that being said, Ian leaned in to kiss her. Expecting it and wanting it, Lucy accepted, grabbing his face and rolling onto her back. Ian was now on top of her, making his way down from her lips to her neck. With Lucy tugging at his shirt and Ian slipping his hands underneath hers, they both realized...

It was going to be that kind of night.

**Ok sorry this took too long to get out to you guys. I actually wanted to write more but I'll have to save it for the next chapter. I felt like this kind of scene was needed to happen again, I don't know why I just did :p Please review!**


	15. Chapter Fourteen

Lucy started her day the way she did every Monday morning: in a daze with a tall coffee. The weekend had left her happy yet confused, and not willing to deal with the real world. As she finished up in her makeup chair, the cast was called back into the meeting room to go over their scripts before filming. The awkward scheduling forcing the weekend between the table read and the first day of filming made the producers feel a condensed read through was necessary.

Lucy grabbed her purse and made her way to the meeting room. She was apprehensive about the day because she had to spend the majority of time with Chris.

As she entered the room, almost everyone was already there. She made her way to her seat, sandwiched between Ian and Chris.

Awkward.

"Ok so the first couple of scenes that we're going to film are Emily and Spencer in Emily's room, Hanna and Caleb outside the school, and Aria and Logan in the hallway at school. So let's read through those quickly in order and then you all have a fifteen minute break before we start, ok?"

Logan, aka Chris's character. Lucy followed Marlene's instructions and read through the scene. It would be their first encounter. Logan, the new guy at school, would meet Aria by having a locker next to hers but not being able to open it. Aria was to help him open it and then realize that they were both in Mr. Fitz's English class together.

After the read through, Marlene gave more instructions.

"Ok, good job guys. Now, the first scene we're going to shoot is the Hanna and Caleb scene so Ashley and Tyler I need you guys at our outdoor set. Everyone else, you have fifteen minutes until I expect the next set of filming to happen. Alright, let's go."

Most people in the room stood up and began to go their separate ways: Tyler and Ashley off to film, Marlene to direct, two of the writers to watch, and Shay to touch up her makeup. Chris stood up and walked over to talk to Brant Daughtry a couple seats away who had a few scenes in the episode.

Lucy reached down for her purse and pulled out an envelope.

"Here," she said to Ian, handing him the envelope. "I had those pictures printed from the party."

"Oh awesome, thanks so much," he said taking it from her and reaching inside.

As he began flipping through the prints, Lucy looked over his shoulder at them with him. Troian was walking past Ian and Lucy's seats to leave the room but stopped to see what the pair were looking at.

"Oh my gosh who is that cutie?"

Ian looked up over his shoulder at Troian.

"This is my little cousin, Ava. Lucy took the picture."

"Aw she is so cute! How old is she?"

"She just turned five," Ian replied.

Ian kept flipping though the pictures with Lucy by his shoulder and Troian leaning over him. After a minute, Chris walked over to retrieve his water bottle he left on the table by his seat. He went to grab it but stopped when he saw what everyone was looking at.

"What's that from?" He asked, staring at a picture.

Ian and Lucy looked up startled, and then looked down to see what he was asking about. It was a picture of Lucy holding Ava that Ian's sister took. When neither Ian nor Lucy responded, Chris got suspicious.

He chuckled and asked again. "What is it?"

"It's pictures from Ian's cousins birthday party," Lucy stated. "That's all."

Chris smiled to himself, nodded his head at Lucy and Ian, and walked away.

***PLL***

"And...cut! Good job guys. Just stay put a minute while we review what we've got. We might want another angle."

Lucy's and Chris stood in what is supposed to be Rosewood High's hallway. Lucy broke out of character as soon as the cameras were off and leaned against one of the lockers. She didn't want to make conversation so she focused her attention on her nails. Chris waited a minute, then walked a few steps closer to Lucy.

"So," he began. "Not dating, huh?"

Lucy looked up annoyed at Chris who had a stupid smirk on his face.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well I don't think it's normal for someone to go to their co-star of the opposite sex's family party."

"He's not just my co-star Chris, we're friends too. Friends can hangout outside of work. It's not that weird."

Chris put his hands up in defense. "Alright, alright, I just better not find out you're lying to me."

Lucy snapped. "You know what, why? Why would it matter to you anyway? It's my life! I don't need your approval!"

Chris started to get mad. "Because Lucy, I've always thought something was going on between you two and we only broke up a couple months ago. No one jumps into a relationship that quickly so if you are seeing him now that proves that you were cheating on me like I thought you were!"

Lucy almost laughed at Chris's ridiculous theory. "You are insane Chris, absolutely insane. It's stupid stuff like this that broke us apart, not me being unfaithful. I would never do that to someone I cared for."

With that being said she walked away, not able to say another word without losing it.

**Things are going to start heating up...watch out! **

**Please review! **

**Twitter: MorganHardingx **


	16. Chapter Fifteen

Ian adjusted the cuffs on his sleeves as he made his way over to the classroom set. He heard the click clacking of heels coming toward him and at the moment he looked up it was Lucy storming by. Ian barely had time to react because she was already long down the hall before he could say anything. She turned into her dressing room and slammed the door.

Turning his head back in the direction he was walking, Ian looked up and saw Chris standing by the classroom door watching Lucy walk away. Immediately overcome with anger, Ian stormed up to Chris. Forgetting his and Lucy's conversation about staying out of it, he didn't stop until he was inches from Chris's face.

"What did you say to her?" Ian spat at Chris.

Chris looked Ian up and down. "I don't know what you're talking about man."

As Chris turned to walk away, Ian grabbed the front of Chris's shirt and spun him back around.

"I said, what the hell did you say to her?"

Chris was taken off guard by Ian's actions. Suddenly the entire camera crew was staring at Ian, flabbergasted. He soon realized that this move was a mistake. Still having a hold of Chris's shirt, Ian looked around at the crew. He then gave Chris one last glare and headed back in the direction he came. He ducked out in the first room he could turn into.

Ian stopped after he was a few steps into the room. He deeply exhaled and started shaking. Replaying in his head what had just happened, he felt another surge of anger come through him. He pursed his lips and squeezed his hands into fists, letting out a moan of frustration.

Ian didn't know how he was supposed to recover from this one. After plopping down on the couch that was in front of him, he let his head fall into his hands.

"Ian," said a voice from the doorway.

He looked up. It was Marlene. She took a couple steps closer to him with a shocked look on her face.

"What in the world was that?"

Ian didn't know how he was supposed to answer. This was supposed to be a conversation between Marlene and Lucy, not him. She wanted to keep this hidden but he wasn't about to let Chris black mail her. Even though he felt like he wasn't wrong in the situation, he knew he had to apologize to Marlene to try to cover this up.

"I'm sorry, it won't happen again."

There wasn't an ounce of sympathy in his voice. Because the truth was he wasn't sorry. He didn't want Chris around and he didn't want Lucy letting him bully her. Why didn't she just say something when Marlene hired him?

Marlene continued to look at Ian with a confused face. Her voice was stern when she spoke, a tone Ian had never heard directed at him from her.

"It better not happen again. I have no idea what has gotten into you Ian, and this is a conversation I never expected to have. But becoming physically involved with a cast member is something I will not tolerate, not matter your history on the show. I don't understand why you did that and I'm not sure I want to know, but anything personal needs to be taken care of off set, understood? Another incident like that can get you involved with the police and fired."

Ian looked down at the ground, feeling a little guilty. Most of the anger was out of him and Marlene could see this. She crossed her arms and took another step closer to Ian, realizing this behavior wasn't like him.

"Ian, is there something I should be worried about?"

Ian wasn't going to make the same mistake as he did earlier. He stood up from the couch and shook his head.

"No," he said quietly to Marlene. He headed for the door, and then turned his head over his shoulder.

"Let's go film that scene."

***PLL***

Things were awkward in the common room at lunch break. Word got around about the Chris and Ian confrontation so of course everyone was acting weird toward Ian. Most people weren't close with Lucy so they couldn't put two and two together and realize that Chris was an ex-boyfriend of hers. The only person who knew everything was Ashley, and she was keeping her mouth shut. However, she gave Ian a sympathetic look walking by.

No one was angry with Ian, they were just confused. But to make it worse, Ian hasn't seen Lucy since she stormed past him that morning. He didn't even know if she heard about what happened. Even though he knew it would probably end in a fight, Ian thought it would be best to talk to Lucy himself, instead of letting her hear it through the grape vine.

Ian set down the bagel he was about to toast and left the room. He doubted Lucy was hiding out in her dressing room still so he headed for his room to get his phone.

Not thinking about anything but getting to his phone before Lucy heard otherwise, he didn't see the person walking straight toward him in his path. He didn't realize until he knocked heads with her.

"Lucy," Ian stated, surprised to see her. "I was just looking for you."

Ian recognized the face Lucy was showing him. She was pissed for sure.

"Really Ian? You had to do that, in front of everybody? Now everyone thinks something weird is going on, either between me and you, me and Chris, or you and Chris, but no one understands why. Do you realize how awkward it was when I ran into Marlene earlier? She stared asking me all of these questions about you and Chris that I didn't know how to answer!"

"Lucy, I'm sorry. I know what you said but I still don't understand why you couldn't tell Marlene about him in the first place, or now when she talked to you! All I can think about when I see Chris is that day I found you in your dressing room sobbing because you were afraid of him. Can you blame me for getting upset? He's taking advantage of you Lucy and you know it! So does he. So what am I supposed to do?"

Lucy was about to say something but changed her mind and said this instead.

"You're supposed to stay out of it."

And with that she coldly walked away.

**Thanks for the reviews guys! I loved them. So what did you think of this chapter? Please let me know if you liked it and what you think is going to happen next. **

**Also, the next update will probably be slow because I'm moving this weekend! So please bear with me.**

**Twitter: MorganHardingx **


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**Sorry this took long! I'm still adjusting to my new place and school starts this week but don't worry I'll keep writing!**

Lucy's mind was torn all day. She was angry, she was embarrassed, she was sad, and she was feeling sorry all at once. It was 9 o'clock and she was outside with Troian and Shay shooting a scene in the woods.

While tapping her phone in her one hand against the other, Lucy walked in circles trying to decide what to do. Ian had respected her wish and avoided her all day, which made her feel like she was too harsh. She knew she had to talk to him, and that he only did that to Chris because he cared about her. Which still after this whole mess made her smile.

Troian decided to walk over to Lucy, who was still circling around.

"Hey, you alright over there? One minute you're smiling and the next you look like you're about to punch somebody."

Lucy gave Troian a small smile and shrugged.

"Is this about what happened earlier?"

Lucy sighed. "You know about that too?"

Troian raised her eyebrows. "Luc, everyone and their dog knows about that. But no one really understands why."

Lucy looked down at the ground and scuffed her feet.

After a minute, Troian quietly asked, "Lucy, what's going on?"

Lucy looked up at Troian and wondered why she never came to her in the first place. Her wisdom and experience with everything made her the perfect friend to come to.

"Alright, there's something I need to tell you."

Troian waited for Lucy to start talking.

"Well, before I tell you, there's something else I need to tell you," she said nervously.

Troian raised her eyebrow. "Go on."

Lucy took a deep breath. "Ian and I are sort of...seeing each other."

Troian eyes went wide. "Really? It happened you finally cracked!?"

"I'm sorry! I just couldn't help it I guess," Lucy said shrugging.

"What are you apologizing for!? I've been waiting for you guys to get together since we all met in Vancouver. Actually," Troian leaned closer. "_Everyone_ has been waiting for your guys to get together."

Lucy blushed and smiled. "Yeah?"

"Yes. Oh and not to mention just about every single PLL fangirl on Twitter."

Lucy laughed. "Oh trust me, I know that. I get tagged in the weirdest tweets let me tell you."

But the laughter was soon cut off by Lucy's long face, remembering the down side to the situation.

"It's not that easy though," she started to explain. "Ian and I are putting a lot on the line by taking this next step. I want to be with him but at the same time I don't want to jeopardize our friendship and how well we get along at work. And then..."

Troian waited for her to continue.

"...yes?"

Lucy sighed. "The guy who is playing Logan is my ex-boyfriend. And I didn't want him knowing about Ian because he was and still is really sour about the breakup. But this morning, Ian couldn't keep himself under control and basically threatened the guy in front of the whole camera crew. So now everyone knows something weird is going on and I don't know what to do."

Troian was confused. "Wait, why would Marlene hire him if she knew you guys have a history?"

"Because she doesn't know," Lucy quickly said with a worried look on her face. "That's the problem. And it's too late now, we already started shooting."

Lucy and Troian were interrupted by a call from the distance.

"Hey guys we're ready for the next shot!"

Lucy sighed and began to walk back to set but Troian grabbed her arm.

"Wait!" She called out to her. "You've got to talk to Ian. Imagine how you would feel if his ex-girlfriend was trying to manipulate him into things in his place of work and you had to witness it."

Lucy sighed. "Yeah, I know. I'm going to talk to him this afternoon. Thanks Troian."

***PLL***

Lucy weaved through the large group of people standing around in the common room. Her 5'2 frame was definitely working against her today; not being able to spot the charming, dark haired boy she was looking for.

Lucy hustled down the hall of dressing rooms, peaking her head in each doorway as she passed them. She regretfully looked into the third door on the right, because she made eye contact with the last person she wanted to see: Chris.

Lucy froze for a minute but quickly turned away to continue on her search. Except he called her name.

"Hey, Lucy! Lucy, wait!"

Lucy rolled her eyes and decided to turn around as Chris jumped out of his chair to catch her.

"Yes?" She asked, annoyed.

"Hey I really have to talk to you about something."

Lucy began to turn around again.

"Now's not the time Chris. I have something important to do."

"It's about Ian though. I'm serious."

This statement caught Lucy's attention. It was because of the look on his face and the time of his voice, almost like he knew something that she didn't. He wasn't wearing his sky smile or his cocky attitude either, which threw her off. However, she was still skeptical about anything that came out of Chris's mouth.

"Go on," Lucy said curiously, taking a step forward.

Chris looked around out in the hallway.

"You might want to come in," he said to her.

Lucy decided that this was something she wanted to hear and followed Chris back into the room. He turned back to face her and spoke in a serious voice.

"Ok so I overheard Marlene talking today on the phone and she was saying that she needs to call a meeting with the writers because she's thinking about...she's thinking about firing Ian."

Lucy's eyes went wide. "What? What are you talking about why would-"

"Lucy, I'm only repeating what I heard. She said that he's been acting more aggressive lately and that if he makes one more bad move that she's pulling the plug on Mr. Fitz."

Lucy didn't know what to think. Being more aggressive lately? What, because he's and defending someone he cares about and growing muscle? How could Marlene do this to him? How could Lucy let this happen?

Chris interrupted her thoughts.

"I have a suggestion though. I just think that you should stay away from Ian. I feel like he's got this front up right now and it's because of you. You don't want to be the reason why he gets fired from the best job he's had in his entire career, do you?"

Lucy was beginning to feel extremely guilty. Maybe Chris was right. How could she let this happen to Ian? It wouldn't be fair. Suddenly she felt like crying, knowing that this new relationship with him was too good to be true.

Chris interrupted her deep thought yet again.

"But Lucy," he began. "You have to be convincing. You know Ian will keep pushing your friendship, relationship, whatever the hell you want to call it."

He walked past Lucy to leave the room, but turned around and added in a stern voice. "So you better make him believe it's over."

***PLL***

It was finally time for the moment Lucy had been dreading all day. She had to save Ian's job; anything else would be selfish.

She spotted Ian outside talking to some of the extras who he just finished a scene with. She took a deep breath and made her way for him. It would be the first time they spoke since she told him to stay out of it.

It wasn't until now when Lucy realized how hard this was actually going to be. There stood Ian wearing a black polo shirt and cargo shorts, laughing at the conversation he was a part of. She could smell his cologne from where she stood, which had recently become her favorite smell. He looked as handsome as ever, and all she wanted to do was run into his arms and say she was sorry.

But she couldn't. If one more incident happened on set, he would be gone. And it would be because of her. Lucy knew how much Ian loved working on PLL, and she was not about to let him blow it.

"Hey Ian?" she called to him once she was close enough.

He turned to her, and suddenly the warm smile that was on his face left his. He could read Lucy's face, and knew something was up.

"We need to talk."

Ian nodded, gave a small wave goodbye to the guys he was talking to and followed Lucy. They stopped once they got off to the side where they had privacy.

The two stood there for a minute, not saying a word. Lucy was trying to prepare what she was going to say in her head, but whenever she looked into Ian's eyes her mind went blank. Finally, she decided she needed to speak, so she looked down at the ground.

"We can't see each other anymore…the way we were."

Ian didn't understand. "Why not?"

Lucy continued to look down. "Because…" she said quietly.

"Because why? Is it because of earlier? Lucy I'm sorry, but I couldn't help it, Chris can't do that to you, he…"

As Ian continued to talk, Lucy realized that she had to give him a different reason why they couldn't be together. One that would keep him away from her, no matter how much they cared for each other. She kept hearing what Chris had said earlier: _You don't want to be the reason why he gets fired from the best job he's had in his entire career, do you? You have to be convincing. You know Ian will keep pushing your friendship, relationship, whatever the hell you want to call it._ _So you better make him believe it's over._

So just like that the decision was made. She had to be convincing. She had to be stern.

"I don't want to be with you!" she shouted out while Ian was still trying to defend his earlier actions.

Ian was caught completely off guard. "What?" he asked her again, this time softer because he was hurt.

Lucy did her best to pretend she was acting, playing a role that she needed to fully commit to.

"I just don't like you like that anymore."

"Anymore? What do you mean anymore?"

Lucy could tell he was skeptical. "I've just realized over the past couple of weeks that I don't want to be more than friends."

"Oh really," Ian said, getting upset.

"Yeah," Lucy simply stated, not knowing what else to say.

"Well that's funny, because I'm pretty sure we've had many conversations and moments together proving that you have feelings for me. You can't suddenly turn them off, Lucy I'm not stupid!"

"I never even liked you in the first place I just felt sorry for you!" she blurted out.

Silence.

That did it. Ian looked at her, completely shocked by her words. The look of shock quickly changed to anger, followed by sorrow and completely broken hearted. He rubbed his chin and looked away, then gave Lucy a slight nod and walked past her.

_Say something_, Lucy said to herself inside her head. _Anything. Say something that will make him turn around and believe for at least a second that what you said was a lie, that you do care and you would do anything to prove it to him. Call to him, run to him. Beg him to stay_.

But she couldn't. It was as if her feet were glued to the floor and her mouth was wired shut. So she watched him with the most terrifying look on her face, her eyes flooding with tears. And he looked back, but with an empty stare that went straight through her, then continued on his way.

**Ahhhh ok so what do you think? Was Chris **_**really **_**trying to help Ian by telling Lucy to stay away? What should happen next? Please stay with me because it will take me a little bit to update sorry! School just started for me so it will take up a lot of my time :/**

**And what about last night's episode? So crazy idk what to think!**

**Twitter: MorganHardingx**


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